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Mm.  JENNIE    ANDERSON   FR0I8ETH. 


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ORMONISM; 


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THE  SI0E7  OE  F0L7GAM7 


As  Told  by  the  Victims  Themselves. 


EDITED 

Jennie  Anderson  'Fkoiseth, 

BdttoroJ  (Ai    Inti- Polygamy  Standard,  Salt  l.„h,  City,  Utah, 

WITH    AN 

INTRODUCTION   BY   MISS   PRANCES   E.   WILLAKD. 

AND  SUPPLEMENTARY    PAFBB      Bl 

Rev.  LEONARD  BACON,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Hon.  P.  T.  VAN  ZILE. 

ami    OTHEBS. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


PU  15  1.  I  S  II  ED    BY 

C.    G.    G.    PAINE,   DETROIT,    MICH. 

1882. 


TS' 


\f*i 


COPYRIGIIT,    1881    AND    1882, 

By    JENNIE    ANDERSON    FROISETH. 


ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED. 


*i  DEDICATI01I.  ! 

TO  tiii: 

BAPPI    WIVES    '.mi    MiiTMi:i;s    OF    LMEBH   \. 

WHOSE    BOME8    a i; r:    PROTECTED    FROM    INVASION    r.Y    THE 

MAJESTIC    A i: M    OP   THE    law  j 

TO  THOSE   TO    whom    THE    WAIL   OF   T11MK    FIB8T-BOBN 

IS     BWEETEB   THAN    THE    Ml  3I(     OF    THE    SPHI  i. 

BECAUSE   THAT   BABE    is   THE    PLEDGE   OF 

Tin;   i'mti  i)   Aim  TIOS    OF 

ON  E     MA  NT     AND     ON  V.     WOM   \  N ': 

in   THOSE    WHOSE   <  IB  i  LDBEN    DO    NOT    BBING    WITH   THEM     \ 

BLBTHRIGHT  OF   BOBBOW,    AND    WHOSE    MOTHEB 

HOOD   IS   HOT    k    BADGE   OF   SHAME, 

THIS  BOOK   IS   APPEALINGLY    DEDICATED    hv    BOME   OF   THE 

WOMEN   OF   MORMONISM. 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE, 


With  an  earnest  desire  to  have  some  part  in  the  great 
work  of  redeeming  the  large,  beautiful,  and  populous  Terri- 
tory of  Utah  from  the  tyrannical  and  degrading  evil  which 
holds  it  in  its  mighty  grasp,  and  which  is  ruining  the  souls 
and  bodies  of  thousands  of  men  and  women,  the  publisher 
sends  forth  this  work.  He  is  confident  that  it  will  impart 
information  which  will  astonish  its  readers,  and  hopes  it 
will  exert  no  small  influence  in  molding  public  opinion, 
and  thus  lead  to  an  energetic  demand  upou  Congress  for 
right  and  efficient  legislation,  and  direct  the  sympathies  of 
the  people  to  some  practical  end,  in  increasing  the  means  of 
the  various  "redeeming  agencies"  that  are  operating  in 
Utah  and  the  adjacent  territories. 

In  order  to  give  the  work  the  greatest  possible  circulation, 
it  will  be  sold  only  by  subscription.  Every  effort  has  been 
made  to  have  it  thoroughly  accurate  and  reliable,  and  to 
issue  it  in  an  attractive  style.  The  illustrations  are  chiefly 
portraits  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  persons  who  are 
working  in  various  ways  for  the  redemption  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Utah  from  the  terrible  bondage  in  which  they  are 
held,  and  have  been  engraved  expressly  for  this  work,  at 
great  expense, 
(iv) 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


Some  one  has  said  that  an  Author's  Preface  is  as  un- 
necessary as  absurd,  because  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of 
one  hundred  it  is  simply  an  apology  for  having  written 
the  book.  The  Editor  of  these  pages  certainly  does  not 
offer  any  apology  for  this  book.  She  only  gives  a  few- 
words  of  explanation  as  to  how  it  came  to  be  presented 
to  the  public. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  little  band  of  brave  and  devoted 
women  in  Salt  Lake  City,  associated  themselves  together 
for  the  purpose  of  fighting  an  iniquitous  monster  which 
had  brought  thousands  of  their  Bex  to  untimely  and  un- 
wept graves.  Some  of  these  women  had  experienced 
personally  all  the  horrors  of  the  Mormon  system,  and 
when  an  organ  for  the  "Ami  Polygamy  Society"  was 
established,  they  were  willing  to  give  their  experience  to 
the  world,  only  stipulating  that,  for  family  and  persona] 
reasons,  their  names  should   noi    be  made  public.      They 

were   willing    to    make    private    affidavits    to    all    the  facts, 

(these  affidavits  to  be  held  in  reserve),  should  their  veracity 
be  questioned. 

These   recitals,   bold  in   the  powerful   language  of  the 
heart,   were   deemed   worthy   of  a  much    I  rele  of 

readers  than  the  columns  of  a  new  journal  afforded.      \i 
dent  friends  of   the  cause   were  anxious  thai    the  narra- 
tives should  be  published  in  booh  form,  in  connection  with 

(v) 


vi  EDITOR'S   PREFACE. 

other  papers  bearing  upon  the  subject  of  polygamic  Mor- 
monism.  Said  these  friends,  "If  the  wives  and  mothers 
of  America  could  only  be  made  aware  of  the  extent  and 
character  of  this  degradation  of  their  sex,  and  informed 
of  the  need  of  their  sympathy  and  support,  the  on-rushing 
tide  of  public  sentiment,  once  set  in  motion,  would  sweep 
away  the  curse  of     polygamy  in   a  single   year." 

Consequently,  the  Editor  of  the  Anti-Polygamy  Stand- 
ard was  empowered  by  the  writers  of  the  different 
sketches  to  revise,  re-arrange,  and  prepare  the  matter  in 
its  present  form,  and  send  it  to  the  Women  of  Amer- 
ica, hoping  that  thus  might  ■  be  set  in  motion  a  tide 
which  would  purge  our  nation  of  this  evil  without  such 
.a  convulsion  as  imperiled  the  national  life  in  extirpat- 
ing the   other  "relic  of  barbarism." 

It  will  be  unnecessary  to  add  one  word  to  the  pathetic 
appeals  contained  in  these  pages,  and,  I  trust,  just  as 
unnecessary  to  ask  my  countrywomen  that  not  in  vain 
shall  sweep  over  the  broad  prairies,  the  cries  of  the 
"Women  op  Mormonism.  " 

JENNIE  ANDERSON  FRCISETII. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah, 

January,  jSSa. 


CONTENTS 


Dedication, page  :i 

Publisher's  Note,  .......  i. 

Editor's  Pbbbacb,       .......  5. 

Contents,        ..........  7. 

Intboduction  r.v  Miss  Willabd,       ....  15. 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE    (ASK    STATED. 

Polygamy  us  a  Religion. — As  ;i  Social  System.     Address  of  tin- 
Gentile  Women  of  Utah. — Appeal  of  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young.- 
Design  of  this  Work. — Degrading  Influence  of  Polygamy. 

p.   19. 

CHAPTER    II. 

THE    ORIGIN    OF    POLYGAMY. 

Mormon  Policy.— Joseph  Smith. — Crusade  Against  Woman. — 
Special  Revelation.— Treatment  of  Those  Who  Rebelled 
against  the  Doctrine.  —  Polygamy  a  Curse.        .        .        p 

CHAPTER   III. 

POLYGAMY     PROPAGATED. 

Polygamy  Denied  Abroad  While  Practiced  :it  Home.  —  ingenious 
Liars. — Danger  of  Admitting  Utah  ;i-  a  st;it<\     Relief  Bocieties, 

]>.   49. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

CLASSES    «>K     MORMON     WOMEN. 

A  istates. — Anti-Polygamous  Mormons. — Full  Believer*  Cour- 
age of  the  Apostates.       ......        p.  48. 

(vii) 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   V. 
woman's   consent. 

A  First  Wife's  Story. — Counseled  to  Humble  His  Wife. — "Wives 
Have  no  Rights  in  this  Territory." — A  Mother's  Reason  for 
Going  to  Utah. — The  New  House. — The  Baby. — Persecutions. 
— Husband  Persuaded. — Death  of  the  Baby. — Wife  Reluctantly 
Consents. — Consequences.  — A  Death-Bed  Scene. — Escape. 

p.  50. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

A    FIRST     WIFE'S    REVENGE. 

Both  Fanatic  and  Fool. — A  Husband's  Promise. — The  Husband 
Ensnared. — Happiness  of  Polygamous  Families. — Sickness. — 
The  Vow.— English  Mollie. — The "  Third  Wife. — A  Religious 
Enthusiast p.  74. 

CHAPTER    VII. 

A     VICTIM     OP     PIOUS     WORDS. 

Married  to  a  Missionary. — The  Awakening. — Tempted  to  Murder 
Her  Own  Children. — Apostasy. — More  Demon  than  Woman. 

p.  90. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

A     SLAVE    TO     THE     FIRST     WIFE. 

Sorrows  of  Plural  Wives.— An  Elder's  Importunities. — An  Un- 
willing Consent-. — Shivery.  —  A  Disappointed  Lover. — Escape 
from  Home. — Tracked. — Driven  Back.  — Shameful  Neglect. — 
Leaving  Home  a  Second  Time. — Lying  Justified. — A  Husband's 
Treachery. — Doubts  and   Apostasy.    ....  p.  96. 

CHAPTER   TX. 

EVIDENCE    V8.     STATEMENTS. 

Incident  of  the  Endowment  House.  Statement  <»f  a  Mormon 
Bishop. — Testimony   Of    a    Victim.      Result    of    a   Second   Mar- 


(<)X  TEXTS 


IX 


riage. — Testimony  of    the  United  States  District  Attorney  for 
Utah p.  111. 

CHAPTER  X. 

STILL     IN     THE    TOILS. 

Help  of  the  Nation  Needed.— Timidity  of  the  Women  still  in 
the  Church. — Their  Despair.-  -An  Infatuated  Wife.  A  Sail 
Story.— Wives  without  Legal  Rights.— The  Third  Wife. 

p.  Ll«. 

CHAPTER    XI. 

FANATICISM. 

Degradation  of  the  Fanatics.— Joseph  Smith's  Holiness.— Brig- 
bam  Young's  Opinion  of  Joseph. — Mormonlsm  Justifies  Lying 
for  the  Truth.-  No  Cross,  no  Crown.  One  Man  the  Husband 
of  Three  Generations.     The  Mormon  Elder  and  His  Wives. 

Advice  of  a  Mormon   Woman.  p-   181. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

TOOLS    OF    TIIK     PRIESTHOOD. 

Remarkable  Statement     Polygamy  Instilled  Into  the  Young 
Apostates  Become  [nfldels  or  Spiritualists. — No  Sympathy  for 
the  Tools.     A    Young  Girl's  Statement      Attempts  to  Keep  a 
Young  Lady  from  Apostatizing.     Corruption    Fund. — Woman 
to   the   Rescue p.  144. 

CHAPTER    XMI. 

AX    EARNEST    APPEAL. 

Quotation  from  the  Detent  Neum.-  Joseph  Bmlth's  Wldowa.— 
Changed  Views. — Smith's  Denunciation  of  Polygamy. — Marrlcil 
or  Single.— Controversy  with  God.— Polygamy  Binding  upon 
All.  or  None.— No  Plural   Marriage.  p-  '■'•".. 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

OPEN     LETTERS    TO     THE    MORMON     WOMEN. 

Anti-Polygamists  Animated  Only  by  Love  of  Humanity.  —A 
Revelation  Cannot  Release  from  Allegiance  to  Law.  — Fruits  of 
Polygamy. — Geo.  Q.  Cannon's  Four  Wives. — Ann  Eliza  Young's 
Suit. — Letter  from  Ann  Eliza  Young.  — Woman  in  Utah  and 
Other  Seetions.         .......        p.  164. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

BEAUTIES     OF     POLYGAMY. 

A  Saintly  Husband. — A  Wedding  and -a  Funeral. — The  Trio  Vic- 
torious.— "  It  Rejoices  Mother  Beyond  Measure." — "  I  Prefer 
to  Scratch  for  Myself  A'ow." — "I  am  Heart-Broken. " — The 
Black  Eye. — An  Eastern  Lady. — Four  Wives  and  Three  Beds. 
— Sixteen  Children  Left. — Peculiar  Consolation. — Would  Visit 
His  Sick  Wife  Next  Sunday. — Would  •  not  Harmonize. —Ar- 
raignment of  Polygamy  by  a  Victim.     .         .         .         p.  174. 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

EFFECTS    OP    POLYGAMY. 

Affects  Unborn  Generations. — Young  Girls. — Remarkable  State- 
ment.— Testimony  of  Stenhou.se. — House  of  Correction.— An 
Aposfle'8  Son. — A  Bishop's  Hopeful  Heir.— Taylor's  Refusal. 
— "Poor  Boy." — Unfortunate  Girl. — "Surprised  that  They 
Lived  together  so  Long." — Fifty  Children  in  the  Cemetery. 
— Joseph  Smith's  Son.— "Queen  of  the  Harem."  p.  195. 

.  CHAPTER   XVII. 

A     HEART     HISTORY. 

Wedding  Anniversary. — Mormon  Missionary. — His  Visit. — The 
Shock. — The   Old    Home. — Invalid  Sister.  —The    .Mother's  Ad- 


CONTENTS.  xi 

vice. — The  Journey  to  Zlon. — Bishop  Parker'a  Wives  \ 
Soleum  Promise.— The  Ncti  Some.— Obscene  Sermons.— Mrs 
Parker's  Friendship.— Unwelcome  Visitor  —"Murdered." 

p,  818. 

CHAPTER  XVLTI. 

A    HEART    HISTORY    CONTINUED. 

A  Happy  Home  Picture. — "Brother   Ellis."— The  Messag 
Stormy    Scene. — Attempt    at    Reconciliation. — Mrs.    Pai 
Visit. — Her    Advice. — Christmas.     Bottled   to    Jesus   Christ — 
Joining  the  Church. — "Brother  Ellis"  Again. — Interview  with 
the   President. — The   Terrible    News. — "One   of    Papa's     Wo- 
men."— Attempt  to  Escape. — Death.         .  .         .  847. 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

SPREAD   OF    MORMONISM    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

The  People  of  the  Nation  Have  the  Power.-  The  Let-Alone 
Policy  not  Sufficient. — Steady  Influx  of  Foreigners. — Conceal- 
ment of  Second  Marriages. — Mothers  Will  imr  Make  Known 
the  Fathers  of  Their  Children. — Mrs.  Young's  Letter. — Danger 
to  the  Nation. — "Danger  to  Every  Household  in  America 
Mormon  Church  at  Covington,  Ind.  -Mormonlsm  in  Mich- 
igan.— Canton,  111. — Young  Girl  in  Colorado. — An  Appeal. 
— Young  Lady  in  Indiana. — An  Infatuated  Daughter  in  Mass- 
achusetts.— Will  Another  War  be  Needed!        .       .        p.  884 

CHAPTER   XX. 
WHAT    ARE    YOU    GOING    TO     DO    ABOUT     IT? 

BY    T1IK    I.ATK    HKV.    I.EONAIU)    IJAmiN.    I).    1>..    I.L.    D. 

Something  Now. — Thirty  Years'  Compromise. — National  Sover- 
eignty.— People  Unfit  for  Self-Government. — No  State  Rights. 

—  The  First  of  Human  Rights.— Jim  Fi-k.  .  .         p.  808. 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    TWIN    RELIC. 

BY  HON.   P.  T.   7AN  ZILE,   U.   S.   DISTRICT  ATTORNEY  FOR  UTAH. 

Philadelphia  Convention,  1857. — No  Easy  Question. — Mormons 
Completely  Organized. — Tithes. — Polygamy  not  Publicly  An- 
nounced at  First. — Wonderful  Power  of  Forgetting. — You 
Cannot  Protect  Me. — Proportion  of  Polygamists. — "Brooming  a 
Bishop." — Polygamists  Holding  the  Offices. — Spiritual  Exalta- 
tion. —  Mormon  Jurors. — Congress  Guilty. — Evil  Results  of 
Polygamy. — Laws  Suggested.         ....  p.  312. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

SOME    SUGGESTIVE   LETTERS. 

BY  HON.   P.   T.   VAN  ZILE,   U.    S.   DISTRICT  ATTORNEY  FOR  UTAH. 

Difficulties  in  the  Way  of  Convicting  Mormons. — How  to  Crush 
It. — Law  of  Limitation. — Disfranchise  the  Polygamists. — Pun- 
ish Adultery. —  "Don't  Persecute  Us." — Mormon  Buncombe. — 
Treason. — No  Kid-Glove  Proceedings. — The  Young  Men. 

p.  337. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

VIEWS   OP   A    STATESMAN. 

BY    HON.    SCHUYLER    COLFAX. 

Mormon  Defiance. ■-  Juries. — Female  Suffrage. — Right  of  Dower. 
— Abolish  the  Legislature. — Heed  the  Gentiles. — The  Golden 
Time p.  357. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE    REDEEMING    AGENCIES. 

BY  0.   ('.    <!.    TAINE,   A.    M. 

Threatening  Aspect.  Past,  Political  History. — Legislation  Power- 
less to  Reform. '—Congregational  <  'lunches. — Salt  Lake  Academy. 
— New  West  Education  Commission. — Roman  Catholics. — Epis- 


COXTK.XTS.  xiii 

copal  Church.— The  Hebrews.— The  Presbyterians.     Bait  Lake 

Collegiate    Institute. — The     Methodists.— The    Baptists.  The 

Press 866. 


APPENDIX. 

Independence  Hall.  (By  Hon.  <>.  ,i.  Holllster,  Sail  Lake  City, 
Utah.) — The  Pioneers  in  Providing  [or  (Social,  Educational,  and 
Religious  Necessities  of  the  Non-MormonB  <>f  Utah  Territory. 
— Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. — Polygamy  do!  Religion. — 
The  Illustrations  of  tins  Work. — hidge  McKean. — Perils  of  a 
Missionary.  .  ......         3S7. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS, 


Mrs.  Jennie  Anderson  Fkoiseth. ... frontispiece. 

IIev.  Walter  M.  Barrows page  24 

Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Cooke 48 

Gov.  E.  H.  Murray 80 

A  Happy  Home  Picture 95 

Mrs.  A.  G.  Paddock 112 

Hon.  James  B.  McKean .-  144 

A  Turkish  Scene 1G3 

Miss  Lydia  M.  Tichenor 176 

A  Polygamous  Family 184 

Rt.  Rev.  Daniel  S.   Tuttle 208 

Prof.  J.  M.  Coyner 240 

Innocence 246 

Rev.  D.  J.  McMillan 272 

Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young 288 

Hon.  P.  T.  Van  Zile 312 

' '  Brooming  the  Bishop  " 324 

Pres.  John  Taylor 344 

A  Warning  of  Danger 364 

M.  E.  Church,  Salt  Lake  City 380 

Independence  Hall 387 

(adv) 


INTRODUCTION.- 


There  arc  many  theories  about  the  "Origin  of 
Evil."  The  won icn  who  will  write  theological  treat- 
ises in  the  twentieth  century,  will  probably  explain 
its  horrid  advent  into  this  world  as  being  eon  e- 
quentupon  the  first  assumption  by  man  of  authority 
over  the  mate  or  comrade  who,  though  weaker  than 
himself  in  body,  was  stronger  in  soul. 

However  that  may  be,  the  degradation  of  man 
lias  always  been  the  inseparable  result  of  the  subjec- 
tion of  woman;  for  the  stream  cannot  rise  higher 
than  its  fountain,  and  it  is  written  in  God's  Book  of 
Fate,  which  man  calls  "Natural  Law,-'  that  the 
mother's  relation  to  the  Home,  Society,  ami  the  State, 
shall  determine  their  degree  of  elevation  or  igno- 
miny. 

Turkey  is  doubtless  the  most  debased  country  on 
earth,  and  there,  as  I  was  told  in  Constantinople 
by  an  American  of  twenty  years' residence  in  that 
capital,  a  Turkish  gentleman  (?)  who  so  far  forgets 
himself  as  to  mention  his  wife  in  the  hearing  of  ears 
polite,  always  adds,  "I  beg  your  pardon  for  the  al- 
lusion." In  Syria,  I  learned  from  the  mission- 
aries that  a  man  never  calls  himself  a  father 
unless  he  has  a  son,  his  daughters  being  altogether 
counted  out  as  ciphers  until  a  brother'-,  birth  p 
a  significant  figure  before  them,  after  which  they 
are  mentioned  as  "  That  boy's  sisters, 

(xv) 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

But  America  need  not  go  bo  far  for  illustrations. 
Turkey  is  in  our  midst.  Modern  Mohammedanism 
has  its  Mecca  at  Salt  Lake,  where  Prophet  Heber  (J. 
Kimball  speaks  of  his  wives  as  "cows."  Clearly 
the  Koran  was  Joseph  Smith's  model,  so  closely  fol- 
lowed as  to  exclude  even  the  poor  pretension  of 
originality  in  his  foul  "revelations."  Man  was  to 
take  his  position  in  the  future  world  according  to 
the  zeal  with  which  he  had  "built  up  the  kingdom," 
while  woman's  immortality  depended  on  her  con- 
jugal relations  here. 

"When  we  consider  that  the  country  which  per- 
mits this  abomination  of  desolation  to  continue,  is 
the  "bright  consummate  flower  " of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion; when  we  remember  what  o'clock  it  is  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  and  that  the  formula  of  Utah's 
monstrous  lust  is,  " Live  your  Religion," — we  are 
tempted  to  change  Sojourner  Truth's  famous  words, 
"  Is  God  dead  ? "  from  a  question  into  a  heart-sick 
affirmation. 

If  ever  the  incalculable  mischief  of  excluding 
women  from  direct  participation  in  Government  had 
an  illustration  so  conspicuous  as  to  silence  the  blind- 
est conservative,  it  is  afforded  by  the  dalliance  of 
Congress  with  polygamous  Delegate  Cannon  ami  his 
unclean  constituency.  Were  women  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  the  disgraceful  record  that  must 
go  down  in  history  would  not  be  even  thinkable. 

The  same  esprit  de  corps  in  women  which  led  a 
Mormon  wife  to  say  as  she  touched  the  chilly 
hand  of  a  dying  man,  "Thank  God,  this  can  never 
again  strike  a  woma/n,!"  has  inspired  the  brave 
woman  who  writes  this  book.    • 


INTBODl  CTION. 


xvu 


I  have  read  its  pages  with  thoughts  too  deep  for 
tears.  Some  sulphur-shrouded  planet  may  have  a 
vocabulary  fiendish  enough  to  fitly  charad 
what  they  reveal,  but  mere  English  is  only  the 
vocabulary  of  a  prating  parrot  in  presence  of  such 
pathos  and  such  woe. 

There  is  something  chivalric  as  the  knights  of  old 
in  the  Author's  defense  of  Mormon  women  from 
the  harsh  criticisms  made  by  the  uninformed  upon 
their  course  in  submitting  to  this  most  awful  form 
of  tyranny.  But  with  the  physical  strength  and  the 
money-power  in  the  one  scale,  and  the  mother-heart 
in  the  other,  there  is  no  more  mystery  about  the 
passive  attitude  of  Mormon  women  than  aboul  that  of 
unhappy  wives  in  more  favored  localities,  or  in  the 
mute  endurance  of  slaves  or  squaws. 

When  Brigham  Young  declared  that  "if  women 
would  not  submit  to  polygamy  they  should  be 
eternally  damned,"  and  when  history  Bhows  that 
women  who  have  resisted  have  often  been  mur- 
dered, the  mystery  of  the  non-resistance  policy 
which  they  commonly  pursue,  is  certainly  cleared 
up.  "Starve  them,  and  beat  them  if  n 
sary,  to  bring  them  to  submission,"  said  the  Mormon 
apostles;  "  better  crucify  the  body  than  let  the  bou] 
go  to  perdition."  Well  Mas  the  method  ofthesehypo- 
crites  characterized  by  a  Mormon  woman  who  said 
of  one  of  them,  "  lb-  is  a  man  who  steps  on  hearts 
as  though  he  stepped  on  Btones." 

The  fact  that  Emma  Smith,  the  first  wife  of 
Joseph,  so  trained  her  sons  that  they  reorganized 
the  church,  and  their  branch  prohibited  polygamy, 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

shows  that  the  one  woman  who  had  power  in 
this  subtle  hierarchy  was  swift  to  use  it  for  a 
righteous  end. 

Surely  it  is  time  that  the  Christian  women  of 
this  nation  arouse  themselves  to  organized  action 
against  this  sum  of  all  curses  which  can  curse  the 
sex  not  physically  strong.  To  say  we  have  been 
hitherto  indifferent  would  be  a  libel  on  our  woman- 
hood no  less  than  our  religion;  to  say  we  have  been 
idle  would  be  unjust,  when  we  remember  the  books 
of  Mrs.  Stenhouse,  the  Anti-Polygamy  Journal  of 
Mrs.  Froiseth,  the  lectures  of  Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young, 
and  the  great  petitions  which  have  registered  where 
they  were  little  heeded,  the  votes  of  the  great  army 
of  women  whose  actual  ballot  would  soon  deliver 
our  captive  sisters  on  the  blighted  frontier. 

But  the  hour  demands  a  deeper,  more  combined, 
and  far-reaching  movement;  and  the  instinct  of 
self-protection  no  less  than  of  philanthropy  should 
wain  the  wives  and  mothers  of  this  land  that  each 
woman  degraded  means  the  potential  degradation 
of  all  women. 

Who  will  lead  us  along  the  path  of  high  endeavor 
which  this  thoughtful  volume  indicates,  until  the 
Book  of  Mormon  is  burned  in  the  fierce  blaze  of 
Christian  manhood's  indignation  and  woman's 
righteous  wrath,  and  the  Gospel  of  Him  who  came 
not  only  to  redeem  the  world  but  to  restore  to 
woman  her  lost  inheritance,  "  the  equality  of  equals," 
is  the  beloved  Home  Religion  in  every  Home? 

FRANCES   K.   WILLARD. 
Chicago,  1SS2. 


The  Women  of  Mormonism. 


CHAPTER    I. 

5fo  (3 a s q  jSlalcb. 

Polygamy  as  a  Religion.— Aa  a  Soda]  System.— Addresa  of  the 
Gentile  Women  of  Utah.— Appeal  of  .Mr.-.  Ann  Eliza  Young.— 
Design  of  this  Work.— Degrading  Influence  of  Polygamy. 

pHAT  is  your  opinion  of  Mormon  polygamy 
as  a  religious  tenet?"  Mas  asked  of  an 
eminent  divine,  upon  his  return  from  a 
visit  to  Utah,  where  he  had  spenl  several 
weeks  in  investigating  the  system,  with 
eyes,  cars,  and  heart  wide  open. 

"It  may  be  good  enough  for  a  certain 
class  of  men,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  for  the  women,  it 
is  a  damnable  doctrine.  Religion  was  designed  by  the 
<  Creator  to  satisfy  that  longing  for  infinite  good  and 
purity,  which  exists,  in  some  degree,  in  every  human 
soul;  its  mission  is  to  elevate  and  purify  mankind, 
and  a  system  which  tends  to  degrade  any  portion  <»f 
humanity  is  but  a  libel  upon  the  sacred  name  of 
religion.  The  besi  resources  of  our  language  cannot 
supply  me  with  strong  enough   terms  in   which  to 

(19) 


20  WOMEN    OF   MORMONISM. 

denounce  this  infamous  doctrine  of  the  Mormon 
creed!" 

"And  how  do  you  consider  Mormon  polygamy 
as  a  social  system?  "  was  inquired  of  a  philosopher, 
who  ignored  all  creeds  and  dogmas,  and  expressed 
belief  in  only  what  he  termed  "natural  religion." 

"As  a  social  system,  it  is  a  miserable  failure," 
was  the  answer,  '■'  because  it  is  founded  on  the  law 
of  retrogression,  which  cannot  be  tolerated  in  this 
advancing  age.  The  corner-stone  of  polygamy  is 
the  degradation  of  woman,  and  it  can  flourish  only 
where  she  is  regarded  and  treated  as  a  slave.  The 
question  suggests  itself,  Does  this  country  intend 
going  back  to  the  conditions  of  semi-barbaric  civili- 
zation? For,  whatever  degrades  woman,  degrades 
man  also.  The  future  of  our  race  depends  entirely 
upon  the  character  and  position  of  the  women.  If 
we  make  them  slaves,  how  can  we  expect  that  our 
children  will  be  anything  else  than  children  of  bond- 
women, and  slaves,  like  their  mothers?" 

In  the  address  issued  by  the  Gentile  women  of 
Utah,  to  the  women  of  the  United  States,  asking 
co-operation  in  measures  for  the  suppression  of  this 
great  crime  against  nature  and  the  law,  there 
appeared  the  following  .statements:  "Considering 
all  our  surroundings,  polygamy  has  never  taken 
such  a  degrading  and  debasing  form  in  any  nation, 
or  among  any  people  above  the  condition  of  savages, 
as  in  Utah;  and  there  are  facts  which  cannot  be 
repeated,  that  reduce  the  system  to  the  lowest  form 
of  indecency.     It  is  degrading  to  man  and  woman, 


THE   ('ASH   STATED.  -ji 

a  curse  to  children,  and  destructive  to  the  Bacred 
relations  of  family.  That  it  should  be  practiced  in 
the  name  and  under  the  cloak  of  religion,  only  adds 
to  the  enormity  of  the  crime,  and  makes  it  more 
n\  olting  to  our  common  ( Ihristian  principles." 

Sirs.  Ann  Eliza  Young,  in  dedicating  her  1 k, 

"My  Life  in  Bondage,'  to  the  Mormon  wives  of 
Utah,  says,  "So  long  as  God  shall  spare  my  life,  I 
shall  pray  ami  plead  for  your  deliverance  from  the 
worse  than  Egyptian  bondage  in  which  you  are 
held.  Despised,  maligned,  and  wronged;  kepi  in 
gross  ignorance  of  the  great  world  outsidi ,  its  pure 
creeds,  its  high  aims,  its  generous  motives,-  you 
have  been  led  to  believe  that  the  noblesl  nation  on 
earth  is  but  a  horde  of  miscreants,  and  that  every 
one  outside  of  your  own  church  is  your  enemy,  and 
plotting  your  destruction." 

In  the  closing  chapter  of  the  same  work,  Mrs. 
Young  makes  this  eloquenl  appeal  for  assistance  to 
the  women  of  America :  "  And  you,  happier  women, 
you  to  "whom  Life  has  given  of  its  best,  and  crowned 
right  royally,  can  you  not  help  me?  The  cry  of 
my  Buffering  and  sorrowing  sisters  sweeps  over  the 
broad  prairies,  and  asks  you,  ;h  1  ask  you  now.  Can 
you  do  nothing  for  nsf  Women's  pens  and  women's 
voices  pleaded  earnestly  and  pathetically  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  Thousands  of  women,  some  of 
them  your  country-women  and  your  equals  in 
moral  and  intellectual  worth,  are  held  in  a  more 
revolting  slavery  to-day.  The  system  that  blights 
every   woman's   life   who   enters   it,   ought  not  to 


22  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

remain  a  curse  and  a  stain  upon  this  nation  any 
longer.  It  should  be  blotted  out  so  completely  that 
even  its  foul  memory  should  die!  " 

It  is  for  the  purpose  of  making'  another  appeal  to 
those  happier  women  of  the  United  States,  that  the 
present  work  has  been  undertaken.  We  make  an- 
other effort  to  enlist  the  sympathy  and  co-operation 
of  good  women  everywhere  in  the  labors  of  that  little 
band  of  noble  workers  who  have  devoted  their  lives 
to  the  task  of  freeing  our  common  country  from  a 
most  loathsome  ulcer,  of  liberating  their  sex  from 
the  most  degrading  bondage  possible,  and  of  inducing 
Congress  to  do  something  for  the  redemption  of 
thousands  of  women  who  are  slaves  in  the  heart  of 
the  Republic! 

And  theirs  is  as  noble  a  work  as  was  ever  under- 
taken. For  if  to  break  the  fetters  from  the  wrists 
of  slaves  was  a  worthy  deed,  how  much  more  worthy 
is  a  struggle  to  emancipate  enslaved  souls.  If  the 
women  of  the  United  States  could  only  realize  that 
it  is  the  sacred  duty  of  every  indirld mil  woman 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  to 
aid  in  this  work  of  enfranchisement,  the  evil  would 
be  of  short  duration.  An  active  public  sentiment 
would  soon  be  awakened  against  it,  as  irresistible  as 
that  which  made  the  people  furious  against  slavery 
when  their  first  dead  were  sent  home  from  the  war. 

If  the  present  volume  is  productive  of  no  other 
result,  it  will  at  least  make  the  women  of  America 
better  acquainted  with  the  degraded  position  of  the 
deluded  and  down-trodden  women  of  Mormonism, 


THE    CASE   STATED.  23 

and  this  in  itself  is  one  step  in  the  way  of  amelio- 
rating their  condition.  It  has  often  been  asserted 
by  those  who  were  interested  in  defeating  legisla- 
tion against  the  peculiar  institution,  thai  polygamy 
could  not  be  perpetuated  except  by  the  consent  of 
the  women,  and  if  they  are  contented,  who  has  any 
right  to  interfere,  especially  when  it  is  practiced  as 
a  religious  belief?  It  has  always  been  a  favorite 
argument  with  Mormon  enthusiasts  in  defen 
this  doctrine,  that  their  women  are  so  much  happier 
and  more  contented  than  women  anywhere  else  in 
the  world,  and  for  that  reason  they  claim  to  bave 
discovered  the  true  sphere  of  woman.  The  true 
nature  of  this  "consent,"  how  ■•contented  "  and  how 
"much  happier"  f  '.)  they  are,  will  be  learned  from 
these  pages.  We  shall  also  show  that  these  enthusi- 
astic defenders  of  woman's  ■•  true  sphere  "  are  those 
who  in  reality  hold  their  wives  in  about  the  same 
estimation    that   they  do  their   cattle,  and  who  show 

(lie  most  indignation  when  outsiders  call  the  ] r 

slaves   th<'   deluded    and    down-trodden   women  of 
filormonism. 

We  reiterate  the  words  deluded  ami  down-trod- 
den both  indignantly  and  sorrowfully,  and  we 
know  they  cannot  he  gainsayed,  indignantly,  that 
such  an  expression  should  he  applicable  to  any  in- 
habitant of  this,  our  boasted  land  of  light  and  lib- 
erty, -sorrowfully  when  we  think  of  the  many 
broken-hearted  women  now  lying  m  the  dreary 
Mormon  cemeteries,  victims  of  this  monstrous  sys 
ten,   of   iniquity;    ami  we  know  that  those  words 


24  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

cannot  be  gainsayed,  because  they  are  truths  which 
are  self-evident  to  the  casual  observer,  as  well  as  to 
the  calm,  dispassionate  philosopher  who  has  studied  all 
phases  of  the  question,  disregarding  all  prejudice, — 
truths  which  can  be  verified  by  all  those  who  have 
been  identified  with  the  delusion,  but  who  have  out- 
lived it, — women  whose  fine)'  feelings  and  womanly 
instincts  could  not  longer  submit  to  the  degradation 
into  which  their  superstition  had  led  them. 

The  lives  of  some  of  these  women  have  been  more 
pathetic  and  full  of  tragedy  than  any  of  which  the 
tragic  muse  has  ever  sung.  The  sacrifice  of  Jephthah's 
daughter,  the  immolation  of  the  Hindoo  widow,  or 
the  desolation  of  the  lonely  nun,  who,  through  a 
mistaken  faith  gives  up  her  hopes  of  maternity,  and 
surrenders  the  dream  which  is  innate  in  every  wo- 
man's breast  to  sometime  be  the  central  figure  in  a 
happy  home,  is  not  a  feather  in  the  balance  when 
compared  with  the  sacrifices  made  by  some  of  these 
women,  and  the  sorrows  endured  by  them  in  silence 
and  alone.  Is  there  not  a  whole  volume  of  tragedy 
expressed  in  these  simple  words  of  a  wife  who  had 
been  supplanted  in  her  husband's  affections  by  an- 
other woman,  "  They  say  I  am  dying  of  consump- 
tion, but  it  is  only  my  heart  that  is  wasting  away?" 

Travelers  and  strangers  in  Utah  have  of  ten  asked 
the  questions:  "  What  is  the  cause  of  the  Mormon 
women  being  in  such  a  degraded  position?  Is  po- 
lygamy the  entire  cause  of  it?"  It  may  be  here  re- 
marked that  there  is  something  peculiar  and  almost 
indescribable  about  the  majority  of  Mormon  women. 


Rev.   w  Al.lKi:   M.    BARROWS 


THE   CASE  STATED. 

Even  in  Salt  Lake  City,  where  they  .i<lopt  more  of 
worldly  fashions  than  they  do  in  the  remoter  settle- 
ments, there  is  little  possibility  of  mistaking  them. 
Especially  do  the  first  wives  seem  to  carry  the  signs 
of  care  and  Borrow, — a  mark  of  Cain,  as  it  were, 
which  separates  them  from  the  rest  of  their  kind, 
[t  is  perceptible  to  even  the  most  transienl  visitors, 
and  those  who  tarry  for  any  Length  of  time  can 
readily  distinguish  a  Mormon  woman  from  an  out- 
sider, though  they  have  no  personal  acquaintance 

With  either. 

We  have  studied  the  Bubject  closely  for  years, 
ami  believe  that  Ave  understand  it  thoroughly.  We 
have  heard  the  stories  of  hundreds  of  the  women 
themselves,  both  good  Mormons  and  apostates  which 
is  perhaps  the  truest  criterion  by  which  to  judge. 
It  is  only  a  woman  of  marked  courage  and  -i  rength 
of  character,  that  will  acknowledge  the  real  extenl  of  a 
delusion  under  which  she  has  been  laboring,  especially 
when  that  delusion  has  been  accompanied  bj  shame, 
and  a  despotism  strong  enough  to  intimidate  and 
crush  the  bravest  spirit.  That  despotism  has,  no,  lun  1. 1, 
deterred  a,  great  many  from  giving  full  expression 
to  their  feelings,  but  the  testimony  that  has  been 
given  is  strong,  abundant,  and  conclusive.  And  by 
this  testimony  we  purpose  t..  prove  that  what  the 
divine  said  was  true,  that  polygamy  is  a  damnable 
doctrine  for  women;  that  the  philosopher  under- 
stood the  Bystem  well,  when  he  declared  it  a  miser- 
able failure  socially;  that  its  corner-stone  is  degra- 
dation to  women  and  infamy  to  children;  thai  it- 


26  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

annals  are  unequaled  in  shameless  crimes,  and  that 
the  non-Mormon  women  fully  appreciated  the  evil 
influences  that  have  made  the  Mormon  women  what 
they  are  when  they  wrote,  "Polygamy  has  never 
taken  such  a  debasing  form  in  any  nation  or  among 
any  people  above  the  condition  of  savages,  as  in 
Utah." 

We  also  purpose  to  prove  that  it  is  a  curse  to 
children,  and  destructive  to  the  sacred  relations  of  the 
family,  and  that  those  who  practice  it  in  the  name  and 
under  the  cloak  of  religion  are  in  reality  those  who 
have  outlived  every  vestige  of.  pure  religious  feeling 
with  which  their  natures  might  once  have  been  en- 
dowed. By  this  testimony  of  the  women  themselves, 
we  also  purpose  to  expose  the  arts  by  which  women 
are  coerced  into  permitting  their  husbands  to 
take  other  wives,  to  show  the  evil  results  of  the 
system  so  far  as  decency  will  permit,  to  exemplify 
how  it  destroys  all  that  is  manly,  honest,  and  chiv- 
alrous in  man,  degrading  him  to  the  level  of  a  brute; 
how  it  completely  ruins  all  that  is  lovable  and  lovely 
in  woman,  and  renders  her  either  a  dull,  senseless, 
sorrowful,  heart-broken  creature,  who  has  no  inter- 
est in  life,  and  no  hope  beyond  the  grave,  or  else 
makes  of  her  a  common  virago;  how  it  fosters  all 
the  worst  passions  of  both  sexes,  and  makes  them 
but  a  libel  on  God's  image;  how  it  corrupts  child- 
hood and  youth;  how  there  is  no  respect  nor  honor 
shown  to  woman  living  or  dead,  but  that  she  is  sim- 
ply regarded  as  the  slave  of  a  lustful  and  tyrannical 
master.      We  shall  show  how  polygamy,  by  its  lack 


THE   CASE  STATED.  07 

of  family  unity,  is  a  foe  to  every  household  in  <  Ihris- 
tendom,  and  subversive  of  all  those  principles  of 
truth  and  honor  which  promote  the  good  of  a  people 
and  which  are  the  crowning  glory  as  well  as  the 
safeguard  of  the  State.  We  shall  show  the  deceit 
and  treachery,  the  brutality,  the  complete  demoral- 
ization, which  everywhere  characterize  the  infamous 
institution  which  renders  motherhood  a  disgrace 
and  brands  with  shame  the  innocent  foreheads  of 
little  children.  We  shall  sketch  the  past  as  w  .11  ;is 
delineate  the  present  of  the  "women  of  Aiormonism, 
and  show  how  they  have  been  reduced  to  the  posi- 
tion they  now  occupy. 

Non-Mormon  women  are  very  apl  to  say  to  those 
who  have  come  out  of  polygamy,  and  especially  to 
those  who  had  been  Mormons  at  the  time  of  its  adop- 
tion as  a  tenet  of  the  church,  "Why  did  you  ever 
submit  to  the  infamous  doctrine ;  why  did  you  not 
leave  the  church,  leave  your  husbands,  bring  them 
to  law,  kill  them,  do  anything  rather  than  submit  '" 

It  is  easy  to  ask  these  questions,  if  >>\u-  is  entirely 
unacquainted  with  the  complete  and  intricate  ma- 
chinery of  the  Mormon  church,  but  it  is  more  ditii- 
cult  to  explain  why  the  women  did  Dot  take  any  or 
all  of  these  steps.  But  any  one  who  understands 
the  system,  would  never  make  these  inquiries, 

The  longer  a  person  lives  in  Utah,  the  more  con- 
vinced he  will  be  thai  these  women,  whom  outsiders 
often  regard  with  scorn  and  contempt,  are  desen  ing 
of  their  deepest  sympathy  and  commiseration  Their 
scorn  and  indignation  should  be  directed  against  the- 


28 


WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 


wicked  and  fanatical  men,  who  have  been  instru- 
mental in  ruining  the  lives  of  these  women.  And  per- 
haps a  little  of  their  indignation  would  not  be  mis- 
placed, were  it  directed  against  our  national  law- 
makers, who  have  suffered  this  plague-spot  to  grow 
unchecked  in  the  very  heart  of  the  most  enlightened 
and  Christian  country  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  It 
will  be  well,  too,  for  people  to  understand  that  polyg- 
amy is  not  a  local  evil  in  the  sense  of  being  confined 
to  Utah.  Polygamy  is  aggressive.  Year  by  year 
it  conquers  new  territory,  and  claims  fresh  victims. 
There  are  Mormon  colonies  in  Wyoming,  Colorado, 
Idaho,  Washington,  Arizona,  and  New  Mexico,  and 
to  all  these  colonies  polygamy  is  carried  by  "emigrants 
from  Utah.  If  people  would  only  compare  the  area 
of  country  over  which  it  is  spreading  with  the  area 
of  New  England  or  the  Middle  States,  they  would 
perceive  that  Deseret,  the  kingdom  that  can  never 
be  moved,  a  kingdom  reared  upon  a  foundation  of 
lust  and  blood,  is  likely  to  become  a  formidable 
power  in  future  years,  if  its  people  are  not  soon 
taught  the  supremacy  of  the  national  law. 


CHAPTER    IT. 

Mormon    Policy. — Joseph    Smith. — Crusade    against    Woman. — 
Special    Revelation. — Treatment    <>f    Those     Who     Rebelled 

against  the  Doctrine.  —  Polygamy  a  Curse. 


^HE  true  secret  of  the  anomalous  condition  of 


woman  among  the  Mormons,  is,  thai  it  has 
been  Mormon  policy  to  degrade  her  to  the 
VJ^<ty  position  she  occupied  among  barbaric  na- 
&"  tions  in  the  dark  ages,  before  the  Light  of 
civilization  raised  her  to  be  what  ( \od  in- 
tended at  the  creation, — man's  equal,  companion,  and 
helpmate.  If  this  doctrine  of  woman's  inferiority 
had  not  been  rigidly  enforced,  polygamy  would 
never  have  gained  its  present  strength,  nor  even 
have  been  established  as  an  essential  doctrine  of  the 
church.  But  in  order  to  give  the  innovation  a  per- 
manent place  among  the  dogmas  of  the  new  relig- 
ion, it  was  necessary  to  make  woman  believe  thai 
she  was  an  inferior  being,  a  lower  creation  than 
man,  that  her  only  chance  of  sah  ation,  her  only  op- 
portunity of  entering  the  gates  of  Beaven,  was  as  a 
satellite,  to  add  glory  to  some  male  Saint.  It  was 
also  taught,  and  is  still,  that  a  woman  cannot  be 
raised  from  the  dead  except  through  some  man,  and 

(89) 


30  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

in  fact,  the  entire  spirit  of  Mormon  teachings  so  far 
as  the  relations  of  the  sexes  are  concerned,  is  man's 
superiority  to  woman,  mentally  and  morally,  as  well 
as  physically. 

We  do  not  know  how  we  can  better  describe 
the  estimation  in  which  woman  is  held  among 
the  Mormons,  than  by  quoting  from  one  of  their 
prophets,  the  late  Heber  C.  Kimball.  His  com- 
mon expression  for  them  was  his  coivs;  and  when 
exhorting  the  brethren  "to  live  their  religion,"  as 
they  sacrilegiously  term  going  into  polygamy,  he 
would  say,  "  I  think  no  more  of  taking  another  wife 
than  I  do  of  buying  a  cow,  and  if  you  want  to 
build  up  the  kingdom  you  must  take  more  wives." 
The  expression  "build  up  the  kingdom"  has  a  dual 
meaning,  one  referring  to  the  temporal  welfare  of 
the  church,  the  other  to  personal  celestial  glory. 
The  more  wives  and  children  a  man  has,  the  greater 
will  be  his  glory  in  the  celestial  kingdom ;  and  the 
larger  his  family,  the  greater  power  and  strength  he 
adds  to  the  organization  here.  Hence,  men  are  con- 
stantly being  urged  by  the  leaders  "to  build  up  the 
kingdom." 

But  to  return  to  the  early  history  of  polygamy. 
Any  unfortunate  or  rebellious  star,  who  declined  the 
honor  of  being  one  of  these  satellites,  and  attached 
to  the  illustrious  train  of  one  of  Israel's  chosen  kings, 
— all  good  Mormons  are  going  to  be  kings  in  the 
next  world,  and  the  Gentiles  their  subjects, — was 
destined  to  roam  forever  through  realms  of  dark- 
ness, or  as  the  prophet  tersely  ami  less  poetically  ex- 


ORIGIN  OF  POLYGAMY.  31 

pressed  it,  "If  the  women  would  nol  submit  to 
polygamy,  tiny  should  be  eternally  damned." 
These  arc  Brigham  Young's  own  words,  often  re- 
peated in  council  and  sometimes  in  the  public 
Tabernacle  Old  Mormons  do  not,  hesitate  to  Bay 
that  the  word  "damned"  may  be  interpreted  as  a 
synonym  for  rtm  rdrred,  and  that  the  tlnv.it  has  fre- 
quently been  carried  into  execution.  There  are  also 
many  instances  on  record  where  the  destined  victim 
has  anticipated  her  doom,  and  precipitated  it  by  her 
own  hand,  preferring  death  to  shame  and  dishonor. 
Verily  it  is  not  exaggeration  to  declare  thai  the  an- 
nals of  this  horrible  system  can  never  be  truly 
transcribed  until  they  are  written  in  letters  of  blood. 
During  the  first  few  years  after  the  religion  <>f 
Joseph  Smith  had  begun  to  spread  and  gain  disciples, 
theocracy  was  not  so  firmly  established,  neither  was 
there  any  difference  manifest  between  men  and 
women.  Both  were  earnest^  sincere  seekers  for 
truth;  determined,  if  possible,  to  find  in  the  Q6W  re- 
ligion what  the}'  fancied  was  denied  them  in  the 
old.  The  principles  taught,  appeared  to  be  pure  and 
good, — belief  in  the  divinity  of  the  Saviour,  equality, 
brotherly  love,  and  other  tenets  of  revealed  religion. 
One  old  Mormon  said  to  the  writer:  "The  Saints 
were  all  they  prof essed  to  he  in  early  days.     They 

fed  the  hungry,  clothed  the  | r,  feared  God,  and 

Loved  their  neighbors  as  themselves.  Of  course, 
they  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  and  reverence  far 
their  prophet,  and  like  all  innovators  and  impos- 
tors, he  labored  to  exerl   the  greatesl  possible  intlu 


32  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

ence  over  his  dupes.  And  never  did  impostor  suc- 
ceed better.  Men  who  were  intelligent  and  other- 
wise strong-minded  became  as  submissive  as  children 
under  his  powerful   hand. 

People  often  say  that  they  now  look  back  with 
the  utmost  amazement  to  those  days,  and  mar- 
vel at  the  strange  magnetic  influence  which  this 
illiterate,  wicked  man  possessed  over  men  and 
women  of  intelligence  and  education.  That  he 
was  of  loose  and  immoral  character  is  conceded 
by  his  warmest  friends,  as  well  as  his  bitterest 
enemies.  Even  his  successor,  Brigham  Young,  said 
that  Joseph  was  of  mean  birth,  wild,  intemperate, 
dishonest,  and  tricky;  but  for  all  that  he  was  a 
♦prophet  of  the  Lord.  These  inconsistencies  may 
seem  strange  to  outsiders,  but  they  are  understood 
by  those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  inner  work- 
ings of  Mormonism.  Brigham  further  said  that 
these  "  trifling  faults  "  were  nothing  against  the  re- 
ligion which  he  had  founded.  The  following  are 
Brigham's  exact  words  in  this  reference  :  "  I  care 
not  if  he  (Joseph)  gamble,  lie,  swear,  run  horses,  and 
marry  women  every  day;  for  I  embrace  no  man  in 
my  faith." 

But  the  followers  of  Joseph  were  not  all  so  blinded 
by  his  influence,  neither  had  they  become  so  corrupt, 
nor  so  lost  to  all  principles  of  truth  and  honor  as  to 
sanction  his  unblushing  wickedness;  so,  in  order  to 
screen  himself  from  the  consequences  of  his  iniquity, 
and  at  the  same  time  retain  his  influence  over  his 
followers,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  obtaining  the  rev- 
elation on  polygamy. 


MORMON  ASSEMBLY  HALL.  SALT   LAKE  <  II'V. 


Old:    II    OVNCB.  BKK    HlVK    II 

RESIDENCE  OF  THE  LATE  PRESIDENT  HIM'. HAM    VOUNG 


ORIGIN  OF  POLYGAMY.  :;:; 

Those  who  have  studied  closely  the  early  history 
of  Mormonism  declare  that  polygamy  Was  latent 
in  it  from  its  wit  conception,  and  thai  the  practice 
and  the  revelation  were  no  mere  accidents  or  after 
thoughts  on  the  part  of  the  natural-born  Libertine 
who  propagated  them.  Stenhouse,  in  the  "Rock} 
Mountain  Saints,"  speaking  of  the  early  days  of 
Mormonism,  says,  that  "all  through  the  history  of 
the  Church,  during  the  lifetime  of  Joseph,  may  be 
noticed  a  disposition  to  f  ree-loveism ; "  and  Brigham 
Young  is  on  record  as  having  said  that  "the  prin- 
ciple of  celestial  marriage  was  one  of  the  first  things 
the  angel  showed  to  Joseph," — and  this  before  Mor- 
monism started. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  at  present  to  discuss  ;in\  of 
these  theories,  nor  to  enter  into  any  particular 
garding  its  original  conception.  We  will  simply 
state  what  is  an  indisputable  fact,  tli.it  Joseph 
Smith,  while  in  Nauvoo  had  entered  into  criminal 
relations  with  a  number  of  his  female  disciples,  mid 
the  scandal  became  SO  notorious  as  to  threaten  his 
influence  and  compromise  him  as  a  Leader  and 
teacher  of  religion,  when  he  pretended  to  have  had 
a  revelation  from  Heaven  commanding  the  Saint-  to 
adopt  what  is  termed,  "The  order  of  celestial  or 
plural  wives."  The  wife  of  an  apostle  who  Lived  in 
Nauvoo  at  that  time,  and  who  is  still  Living  in  Salt 
hake  City  has  repeatedly  affirmed  thai  she  was 
aware  that  such  a  revelation  was  contemplated  se\  - 
era]  weeks  before  the  date  on  which  Joseph  avowed 
he  had  received  it  from   Heaven.     It   is  only  simple 

3 


34  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

justice  to  those  women  whom  Joseph  deceived  so 
shamefully,  to  state  that  he  evidently  taught  the 
doctrine  to  them  privately,  telling  them  that  it  was 
a  true  principle,  but  the  time  had  not  yet  arrived 
for  its  public  announcement  or  practice.  It  is  also 
only  an  act  of  simple  justice  to  say  that  Emma 
Smith,  Joseph's  wife,  never  believed  in  the  revela- 
tion, and  her  life  was  a  constant  martyrdom  on  ac- 
count of  her  husband's  "  celestializing  "  propensities. 
Her  sons  are  to-day  the  leaders  of  the  "  Reorgan- 
ized Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints,"  or,  as  they  are 
familiarly  called,  the  "  Josephites,"  a  party  who  pro- 
fess adherence  to  the  original  principles  of  Mormon- 
ism,  as  first  taught  by  Joseph  Smith,  without  the 
debasing  doctrine  of  polygamy,  which  they  condemn 
as  severely  as  do  the  Gentiles. 

Whatever  the  origin  of  the  revelation,  it  is  certain 
that  it  did  not  meet  with  a  very  enthusiastic  re- 
ception at  first,  and  by  very  many  it  was  viewed 
with  abhorrence;  for  there  were  men  among  them 
who  dearly  loved  their  wives,  and  who  were  jealous 
of  the  honor  of  their  mothers  and  sisters.  These 
men,  notwithstanding  their  devotion  to  their  leader 
and  their  religion,  could  not  readily  believe  that 
Heaven  could  either  command  or  sanction  the  prac- 
tice of  a  system  so  dishonoring  to  the  sex,  and  so 
contrary  to  every  principle  of  morality  and  the 
usages  of  civilization.  Some  of  the  stronger  minded, 
and  of  purer  hearts,  made  a  brave  resistance,  and  a 
large  number  apostatized,  and  left  the  church  for- 
ever.    Before  long,  those  who  remained  succumbed 


ORIGIN   OF  POLYGAMY.  35 

to  the  authority  of  the  church,  and  if  they  did  not 
in  reality  believe  in  the  revelation,  they  pretended 
to.  And  when  once  the  downward  path  is  entered 
upon,  descent  is  easy. 

Then  it  was  that  the  crusade  commenced  against 
women.  From  the  very  first  the  majority  of  the 
women  had  considered  the  "revelation"  in  its  true 
light — a  cloak  to  cover  immorality — and  in  many 
cases  they  were  strongly  supported  by  their  hus- 
bands. But  the  authority  of  the  church  was  so 
complete,  and  the  influence  of  Joseph  so  great,  that 
the  infatuation  soon  became  uncontrollable, — a  few 
fanatical  women  assumed  to  believe  in  the  divinity 
of  the  revelation,  and  these  being  in  high  standing 
in  the  church,  the  rest  were  not  long  in  perceiving 
that  the  struggle  would  be  a  terrible  one,  and 
almost  sure  to  end  in  their  defeat. 

The  maidens  were  as  adverse  to  becoming  plural 
wives,  as  were  the  first  wives  to  have  their  rights 
invaded  and  their  homes  desecrated;  but  where 
flattery  failed  to  cajole  or  threats  to  intimidate, 
special  revelations  were  obtained  to  suit  special  cases. 
The  history  of  Joseph  Smith's  revelations  would 
prove  interesting  reading,  and  would  make  a  volume 
of  no  mean  dimensions,  as  he  claimed  to  have  received 
thirty-seven  distinct  communications  from  Heaven 
in  the  year  1831  alone.  It  was  a  great  habit  with 
him,  after  he  had  committed  some  particular  breach 
of  decorum,  to  obtain  a  revelation  assuring  him  that 
"  the  Lord  forgave  his  servant  Joseph  "  his  special 
sins. 


36  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

We  are  acquainted  with  the  facts  in  one  case, 
which  was  not  a  solitary  one  of  its  kind.  A  promi- 
nent apostle  in  Nauvoo,  a  bosom  friend  of  the  prophet 
and  a  strenuous  supporter  of  the  new  doctrine, 
became  infatuated  with  a  young  girl  who  had  left 
her  family  in  an  Eastern  State  to  become  a  Mormon. 
He  was  determined  to  have  her  for  a  plural  wife, 
but  she  was  as  determined  in  her  refusal.  Wearied 
by  his  importunities,  she  told  him  one  day,  half  in 
jest,  that  she  would  never  marry  him  unless  she  was 
specially  commanded  to  do  so  by  Heaven.  A  few 
days  afterward  she  was  summoned  to  attend  a 
private  meeting  of  the  prophet  and  several  of  the 
high  priests,  and  was  there  informed  that- a  special 
revelation  had  been  sent  from  Heaven,  ordering  her 
to  become  the  plural  wife  of  the  apostle.  The  poor 
girl  was  astonished  enough,  but  still  she  had  firm 
belief  in  the  honesty  of  her  religious  teachers;  and 
although  she  did  it  reluctantly,  she  married  him, 
being  afraid  to  disobey  what  she  thought  was  a 
direct  command  from  God.  A  friend  questioned  as 
to  how  the  revelation  came,  and  to  whom  it  was 
given;  but  the  girl  acknowledged  that  she  had  such 
implicit  faith  in  the  church  authorities,  she  would 
not  have  dared  make  those  inquiries,  even  had  they 
occurred  to  her  mind. 

This  blind  devotion  and  unquestioning  faith  has 
been  the  great  means  of  giving  the  Mormon 
church  its  present  strength  and  power.  Years 
afterward,  when  this  child — for  she  was  but 
seventeen  years  of  age  when  the  event  happened — 


ORIGIN   OF  POLYGAMY.  37 

had  outgrown  her  delusion,  she  said  to  her  friend, 
"How  could  I  have  been  so  blind  and  foolish!  how 
could  I  have  let  those  wicked  men  dispose  of  me, 
body  and  soul,  as  if  I  had  been  a  calf  or  a  doc! 
Whenever  I  think  of  it,  I  hate  and  despise  myself  for 
my  folly,  for,  in  my  case,  folly  was  worse  than  crime." 
This  poor  girl's  experience  in  polygamy  was  just 
what  might  have  been  expected,  for  she  was  soon 
discarded  for  another  favorite,  who  did  not  need 
any  special  revelation  in  her  case.  It  may  be  imag- 
ined what  kind  of  a  life  she  had,  when  she  said  these 
words  in  speaking  of  her  husband:  "The  happiest 
day  I  spent  for  twenty  years  was  the  day  I  saw  him 
laid  in  the  grave."  Truly,  this  doctrine  of  polygamy 
is  a  damnable  one  for  women ! 

During  this  crusade  against  woman,  referred  to 
above,  nothing  was  left  undone  to  compel  them  to 
accept  the  revelation  on  polygamy.  Husbands  were 
commanded  to  resort  to  all  manner  of  severity  if 
their  wives  would  not  consent  to  their  taking  more 
women,  and  those  who  objected  to  being  taken  were 
subjected  to  every  conceivable  persecution.  Their 
reputations  were  blasted,  and  their  souls  threatened 
with  eternal  condemnation.  If  a  woman  declined 
to  be  divorced  from  her  husband  to  become  the 
concubine  of  the  prophet,  if  he  happened  to  fancy 
her,  she  was  branded  as  an  infamous  character,  and 
the  Saints  were  warned  not  to  associate  with  her 
thereafter.  There  are  women  living  in  Salt  Lake 
City  in  this  year  of  grace,  1882,  who  were  secret 
plural  wives  to  Joseph  Smith  or  Brigham  Young, 


38  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

deceiving  their  own  husbands,  because  they  dared 
not  brave  the  prophet's  anger  and  its  consequences. 
For  then,  as  to-day,  the  Mormon  weapon  against  its 
antagonists  was  slander.  The  man  or  woman  who 
has  the  moral  courage  to  apostatize,  becomes  a  target 
for  the  vilest  kind  of  abuse  and  falsehood.  Of  this 
more  will  be  said  hereafter. 

And  yet  all  this  persecution  was  conducted  in  the 
most  secret  manner  possible.  In  public,  the  Saints 
denied  that  they  either  advocated  or  practiced 
polygamy,  though  it  was  the  one  important  and  all- 
absorbing  theme  of  their  counsels  in  private.  Those 
who  would  not  sanction  or  follow  the  revelation 
were  denounced  as  traitors  to  their  faith,  whose 
portion  should  be  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone 
forever.  One  old  lady  who  had  passed  through  that 
terrible  ordeal,  said:  "A  person  can  scarcely  form 
the  slightest  conception  of  what  we  suffered  during 
that  dreadful  time;  poverty,  sickness,  distress,  or 
death  would  have  been  nothing  compared  to  what 
we  endured.  Indeed,  death  would  have  been  gladly 
welcomed  by  many  of  us;  but,  alas,  we  cried  in 
vain ;  he  would  not  come ! 

"Our  husbands  were  enjoined  to  treat  us  with 
the  utmost  severity  if  we  objected  to  their  'living 
their  religion;'  not  alone  to  withdraw  all  marks  of 
esteem  and  affection,  but  also  to  deprive  us  of  the 
necessaries  as  well  as  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of 
life.  '  Starve  them  and  beat  them,  if  necessary,  to 
bring  them  to  submission/  was  the  counsel;  'better 
crucify  the  body  than  let  the  soul  go  to  perdition.' 


ORIGIN  OF  POLYGAMY.  39 

"If,  by  chance,  the  men  were  rebellious,  they 
were  dispatched  on  missions,  and  their  wives  com- 
manded to  receive  the  attentions  of  other  men  durinff 
their  absence.  I  dare  not  repeat  the  counsel  given 
on  this  point,  it  is  so  grossly  indelicate  and  immoral. 
If  a  wife  fell  a  victim  to  the  snare,  and  her  husband 
found  more  children  in  his  home  when  he  returned 
than  when  he  left,  it  was  all  'religion.'  If  she 
remained  true  and  loyal,  her  reputation  was  ruined 
among  the  Saints.  And  when  the  Mormons  came  to 
Utah,  and  were  so  completely  isolated  from  the 
influences  of  the  outside  world,  there  was  no  help  or 
redress  for  the  women.  Those  of  us  who  rebelled 
against  the  doctrine  were  treated  without  tenderness, 
or  even  respect.  In  fact,  we  were  regarded  as 
simply  brood  animals.  Brigham  Young  frequently 
told  the  women  that  they  must  not  expect  their 
husbands  to  love  them,  it  was  enough  honor  to  be 
allowed  to  bear  children  to  a  Saint.  Then  when 
that  reign  of  terror  known  as  the  '  Reformation '  was 
inaugurated,  thousands  were  compelled  to  enter 
polygamy  in  order  to  save  themselves  from  being 
'  blood-atoned.'  Then  a  single  woman  could  scarcely 
be  found  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Territory; 
and  when  the  .supply  of  marriageable  girls  had 
given  out,  others  were  recruited  from  the  ranks  of 
the  children.  It  was  a  very  common  affair  for  a 
little  girl  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  to  be  forced 
into  polygamy  with  some  wretch  old  enough  to  be 
her  grandfather !  After  long  years  of  such  tyranny 
and  inhuman  treatment,  is  it  any  wonder  that  our 


40  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

women  became  reduced  to  the  lowest  depths  of 
degradation? " 

The  same  lady  said  upon  another  occasion :  "  Polyg- 
amy is  the  direst  curse  with  which  a  people  or  a 
nation  could  be  afflicted.  I  could  tell  you  stories 
enough  to  fill  volumes,  of  its  vile  workings,  its 
unholy  influences,  its  horrible  results.  It  completely 
demoralizes  good  men,  and  makes  bad  men  corre- 
spondingly worse.  As  for  the  women — well,  God 
help  them!  First  wives  it  renders  desperate,  or  else 
heart-broken,  mean-spirited  creatures;  and  it  almost 
unsexes  some  of  the  other  women,  but  not  all  of  them, 
for  plural  wives  have  their  sorrows  too.  An  elder 
once  said  to  me,  '  Sister  Sarah,  you  are  a"  regular 
Satan.'  I  had  been  giving  my  views  in  regard  to 
polygamy  and  polygainists.  I  answered  him,  'There 
are  only  two  classes  of  Mormon  women,  devils  and 
fools.' 

"Talk  about  the  lost  women  of  the  outside 
world !  Are  any  of  them  so  lost  to  all  sense  of  shame 
that  they  will  parade  themselves  before  the  wife, 
and  rob  her  unblushingly  not  only  of  the  affections 
of  her  husband,  but  of  every  particle  of  his  sub- 
stance, even  the  bread  out  of  her  children's  mouths? 
They  at  least  have  shame  enough  to  keep  themselves 
hidden  from  the  women  they  may  happen  to  wrong. 
But  I  have  known  my  husband's  concubines  to  enter 
my  home,  after  I  would  not  have  them  in  the  house 
with  me  any  longer,  and  deliberately  take  away  the 
food  and  clothing  1  had  earned  with  my  own  hands, 
and  my  husband  stand  by  without  a  word  of  expos- 


ORIGIN   OF  POLYGAMY.  41 

tulation  or  reproof.  He  was  not  in  a  position  at 
that  time  to  give  them  what  they  desired  or  needed, 
and  he  did  not  care  if  they  robbed  me  of  my  last 
penny,  even  if  my  little  children  went  hungry  or 
naked  in  consequence.  Yet  before  he  became  a 
polygamist  he  was  as  kind  and  tender  a  husband  as 
ever  lived." 

But  alas  for  the  consistency  of  the  Latter-day 
religion !  A  husband  like  this  will  often  descant  for 
hours  upon  the  advantages  of  the  "divine  ordinance," 
especially  for  the  benefit  of  distinguished  strangers. 
There  is  one  apostle  in  particular  who  is  frequently 
chosen  to  fill  this  office,  who,  as  the  Mormons  say,' 
becomes  completely  lifted  out  of  himself  in  expatiat- 
ing upon  the  benefits  of  the  divine  order  of  marriao-e 
and  its  ennobling  influences  upon  the  women.  This 
holy  apostle  has  never  provided  properly  for  any  of 
his  wives,  two  or  three  have  left  him,  he  has  deserted 
as  many  more,  one  of  whom  died  of  sheer  destitution 
under  the  most  heart-rending  circumstances;  and 
yet  he  is  perfectly  fanatical  on  the  subject  of 
polygamy. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  those  who  have  suffered,  or 
seen  others  suffer,  from  the  horrors  of  this  system, 
should  wish  it  "blotted  out  so  completely  that  even 
its  foul  memory  should  die?  " 


1&&tf&&0Wgfr 


CHAPTER    III 


Jejuni!}  JVjttjmga^iu 


Polygamy  Denied  Abroad  while  Practiced  at  Home. — Ingenious 
Liars. — Danger  of  Admitting  Utah  as  a  State. — Relief  So- 
cieties. 

:HILE  Joseph  and  his  deluded  followers 
were  practicing  polygamy  in  Nauvoo, 
the  missionaries  abroad  were  sedulously 
preaching  against  it,  and  in  pursuance  of 
the*prophet's  private  orders,  were  posi- 
tively asserting  that  no  such  tenet  was 
recognized  by  the  Latter-day  Saints.  They  were 
afraid  to  advocate  the  principle  openly,  because  they 
knew  it  would  bring  upon  them  the  just  condemna- 
tion of  the  entire  world,  and  prevent  converts  from 
embracing  the  new  religion.  Consequently,  they 
were  obliged  to  resort  to  the  vilest  kind  of  deceit,  in 
order  to  screen  themselves  and  their  nefarious 
doctrine  from  the  abhorrence  so  justly  merited. 
They  were  afraid  to  acknowledge  the  truth,  because 
they  knew  it  would  be  their  death-blow  at  that 
time,  and  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  even  to  this 
day  the  missionaries  in  foreign  countries  are  very 
reticent  upon  this  point. 

There   was   considerable    excitement   in   Europe 
when    the    rumors    of    the    new    ordinance    were 

(42) 


POLYGAMY  PROPAGATED.  43 

brought  to  their  shore,  but  the  American  missionaries 
assured  the  European  Saints  that  the  rumor  was 
only  started  by  their  enemies  to  injure  their  cause. 
The  most  eloquent  and  remarkable  denial  was  made 
by  Apostle  John  Taylor  (the  present  head  of  the 
Mormon  church),  at  Boulogne,  in  France,  where  he 
presided  over  a  large  and  successful  mission. 

Apostle  Taylor  was  at  that  time  the  husband  of 
five  wives,  two  of  them  sisters.  A  missionary  who 
was  laboring  with  him  there  had  for  wives  a  mother 
and  daughter.  The  French  converts  were  determined 
to  know  the  truth  in  regard  to  polygamy,  conse- 
quently Apostle  Taylor  preached  an  eloquent  sermon, 
denying  the  charge  emphatically,  and  quoting  ex- 
tensively from  the  "Book  of  Mormon"  and  "Doc- 
trines and  Covenants," — works  containing  the  arti- 
cles of  faith  of  the  Mormon  church.  Being  very  earn- 
est and  impressive,  he  convinced  his  audience,  with- 
out a  doubt,  that  the  Latter-day  Saints  had  been 
vilely  slandered  by  the  accusation  of  polygamy. 
What  a  religion,  which  permits  a  man  to  lie  so  un- 
blushingly,  and  that  in  the  name  of  the  God  of 
truth,  who  cannot  lie  ! 

One  reason  why  a  great  many  honest,  straight- 
forward Mormons  declare  against  polygamy  is  be- 
cause it  involves  such  a  sacrifice  of  truth.  It  makes 
a  man  a  deceiver  in  spite  of  himself,  in  defiance 
of  his  better  nature.  Men  who  would  scorn  a 
falsehood  in  any  other  relation  of  life,  who  are 
faithful  to  the  end  in  friendship  and  just  in  business 
to  the  uttermost  farthing,  do  not  scruple  to  descend 


44  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

to  the  lowest  grade  of  falsehood  when  polygamy  is 
concerned.  As  a  Mormon  lady  once  said  to  a  dis- 
tinguished traveler,  "  A  polygamist  is  the  most  in- 
genious liar  imaginable,  because  he  dare  not  tell  the 
truth,  that  is,  if  he  wishes  to  preserve  a  semblance 
of  peace  in  the  family.  If  the  first  wife  remains 
the  favorite,  and  he  desires  to  please  her  without 
totally  neglecting  the  others,  he  will  invent  the  most 
plausible  stories  in  regard  to  his  absences  from  home, 
to  avoid  telling  her  that  he  has  been  visiting  them. 
If  he  is  an  old  man,  and  the  slave  of  some  concu- 
bine, there  is  no  end  to  the  falsehoods  he  will  have 
to  tell.  But  the  deceit  and  treachery  are  most 
practiced  when  the  men  are  looking  for  other 
wives."  If  you  will  talk  with  Mormon  women  you 
will  find  that  the  testimony  on  this  point  is  over- 
whelming. Almost  every  woman,  either  first  or 
plural  wife  could  tell  the  same  story  of  some  kind  of 
deception  having  been  practiced  upon  her.  Many 
of  them  were  married  to  missionaries  in  foreign 
lands,  thinking  they  were  first  wives,  only  to  find 
upon  their  arrival  in  Zion,  that  two,  three,  or  more 
women,  as  the  case  might  be,  had  a  previous  right 
to  call  the  same  man  husband. 

It  was  necessary  to  revert  to  the  early  history  of 
polygamy,  and  show,  for  two  reasons,  how  the  women 
were  forced  to  submit  to  it.  First,  to  illustrate  the 
principle  which  has  made  the  women  of  Mormonism 
what  they  are  to-day,  and  which  can  find  no  paral- 
lel anywhere  on  the  face  of  the  civilized  globe ; 
second,  to  show  that  if  Utah  were  admitted  as  a 


POLYGAMY  PROPAGATED.  45 

State,  unless  polygamy  were  abolished  as  completely 
as  slavery  now  is,  the  same  things  would  be 
repeated.  Given  Statehood  under  the  present  con- 
dition of  affairs,  the  Gentiles  would  soon  be  run  out 
of  the  country,  the  liberal  schools  and  newspapers 
suppressed,  and  a  reign  of  terror  inaugurated  that 
would  cost  the  United  States  millions  of  money  and 
lives  before  the  abolition  of  polygamy  could  be  ac- 
complished, while  now  a  very  little  legislation, 
coupled  with  determination  on  the  part  of  the  Gov- 
ernment would  soon  stop  the  evil  from  spreading, 
and  place  it  in  the  way  of  complete  annihilation. 

It  is  not  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  system  of 
persecution  which  compelled  the  Mormon  women  to 
submit  to  polygamy  would  again  be  adopted  in  case 
Utah  were  invested  with  the  powers  of  State  sov- 
ereignty, for  there  exists  in  Utah  to-day  as  com- 
plete a  system  for  teaching  and  preaching  the  abom- 
ination to  the  young  girls.  In  every  little  settlement 
there  is  a  female  organization  called  the  "Relief 
Society,"  which  was  instituted  and  is  maintained  by 
the  orders  of  the  priesthood.  Here  the  young  girls 
are  brought  every  week,  and  the  vile  doctrine  con- 
tinually dinned  into  their  ears.  The  same  old  story 
is  ever  repeated,  that  they  can  never  obtain  salva- 
tion except  they  enter  it.  They  are  also  taught 
that  polygamy  is  practiced  all  over  the  world  in 
some  form  or  other,  that  the  Mormon  system  of 
plurality  is  the  only  pure  and  true  one,  and  that  all 
others  are  sinful. 

A   young  girl   of   sixteen    who   had   been  born 


46  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

and  raised  in  the  Salt  Lake  Valley,  seemed 
completely  astounded  when  informed  by  a  Gentile 
whose  acquaintance  she  casually  made,  that  a 
man  in  New  York  or  Massachusetts  who  married 
more  than  one  wife  would  be  sent  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. Then  these  children  are  asked  if  they  would 
not  prefer  to  have  their  husbands  live  in  the  pure 
relations  of  celestial  marriage,  owning  their  wives 
and  acknowledging  their  children,  rather  than  to 
know  or  suspect  that  they  were  living  in  sin.  A 
Mormon  woman  said  not  long  ago,  to  a  Gentile  vis- 
itor :  "  What  is  the  difference  Between  our  husbands 
having  plural  wives,  and  your  husbands  keeping  mis- 
tresses?" The  lady  was  equal  to  the  occasion  and 
quickly  replied  :  "  There  is  no  difference  at  all,  for 
the  practices  are  identical ;  polygamy  and  prostitu- 
tion are  one  and  the  same  thing.  But  there  is  this 
distinction,  while  you  extol  the  one  as  a  saintly 
practice,  we  condemn  the  other  as  a  sinful  one." 

The  Mormons  claim  that  the  origin  of  the  "Relief 
Society "  was  in  pursuance  of  a  direct  revela- 
tion from  God  to  Joseph  Smith,  and  what  is 
called  the  "  Young  Ladies'  Association  "  was  a  reve- 
lation to  Brigham  Young.  A  member  of  the  latter 's 
household  thus  discourses  in  regard  to  this  revela- 
tion : — 

"After  the  Gentiles  began  to  come  to  Utah,  the 
young  girls,  getting  their  eyes  opened  a  little,  be- 
gan to  have  doubts  regarding  the  religious  prin- 
ciples of  polygamy,  because  they  had  seen  so  much 
of  its  unhappiness  and   its  evil   results.     Some  of 


POLYGAMY  PROPAGATED.  47 

them  thought  that  to  possess  the  love  and  devotion 
of  a  sinner,  and  to  be  well  supported  by  him,  might 
be  preferable  to  neglect  and  poverty  with  the  frac- 
tion of  a  Saint.  Occasionally  a  maiden  would  be 
found  bold  enough  to  express  her  opinions,  and  de- 
clare that  she  would  have  a  husband  to  herself,  or 
have  none.  The  president  was  quick  to  see  that 
these  ideas  must  be  crushed  immediately,  or  the 
young  people  would  soon  be  on  the  road  to  apostasy. 
So  he  said  to  the  elder  women  :  '  Sisters,  something 
must  be  done  to  counteract  these  infernal  Gentile  in- 
fluences, and  stop  this  feeling  of  rebellion  against 
our  holy  practices.  Organize  societies,  bring  the 
young  girls  more  in  contact  with  you,  mothers  in 
Israel,  and  instruct  them  in  the  faith.'  And  so,  the 
first  of  these  societies  was  organized  in  our  own 
household,  (for  I  was  a  member  of  the  family  at 
the  time),  not  to  assist  the  poor  and  suffering,  but  to 
teach  the  young  girls  subjection  to  the  dominant 
power.  No  woman  has  ever  been  permitted  to  hold 
office  in  one  of  these  societies,  except  those  who  will 
carry  out  the  plans  of  the  Mormon  theocracy." 

And  what  shall  be  said  of  women  who  allow 
themselves  to  be  the  tools  of  a  designing  priesthood ! 
They  are  either  fanatics  or  hypocrites,  and  as  such, 
unfit  to  be  leaders  and  teachers  of  woman.  God 
knows  there  are  enough  influences  in  this  sor- 
rowful world  to  render  women's  lives  a  dreary 
waste,  without  their  own  sex  being  the  instruments 
to  lure  them  to  destruction.  Of  this  class  of  women, 
more  will  be  said  hereafter. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

§k$$^$  of  ft&qtmm  Ifanqn* 

Apostates. — Anti-Pol}gamous  Mormons. — Full   Believers. — Cour- 
age of  the  Apostates. 

jHE  women  of  Mormonism — (in  this  general 
classification  are  included  all  who  have  ever 
been  identified  with  the  church) — may  be 
divided  into  two  classes,  first  and  plural 
wives.  Each  of  these  classes  may  be  again 
subdivided,  and  distinguished  as,  first,  apos- 
tates, that  is,  those  who  have  withdrawn  entirely 
from  the  Mormon  church;  second,  those  who  have 
not  yet  severed  their  connection  with  it,  and  who 
believe  in  all  its  doctrines  with  the  exception  of 
polygamy  ;  and  third,  those  who  believe  in  the  insti- 
tution as  a  divine  ordinance,  or  pretend  they  do. 

The  apostate  element  is,  of  course,  very  much  in 
the  minority,  but  it  counts  among  its  ranks  many 
noble  women  who  have  burst  from  their  trammels 
under  innumerable  difficulties, — women  who  have 
suffered  untold  martyrdom  for  the  sake  of  a  falsi- 
o-od.  It  is  our  intention  to  say  but  little  about  this 
class,  preferring  to  let  them  speak  for  themselves. 
In  the  stories  which  follow,  there  is  nothing  exagger- 
ated nor  set  down  in  malice.  Indeed,  exaggeration 
(48) 


Mrs.   SARAH  A.   COOKE. 

President  of  the  Woman's  National  Anti-P,„.y,;,. 
Society, 


CLASSES   OF  MORMON   WOMEN.  49 

is  impossible,  since  language  is  inadequate  to  half 
unveil  the  horrors  of  this  loathsjome  object  called 
celestial  marriage.  These  pages  are  simple,  truthful 
relations  of  how  women  have  been  beguiled  and  de- 
luded; how  their  hearts  have  been  crushed,  their 
womanly  feelings  outraged,  their  homes  desecrated, 
and  they  made  almost  physical,  mental,  and  moral 
wrecks. 

We  can  scarcely  give  too  high  a  tribute  to  the 
courage  of  the  apostate  Mormon  women.  It  may 
be  thought  a  very  easy  matter  to  leave  the  church ; 
but  when  it  is  remembered  that  leaving  the  church 
meant  the  entire  breaking  away  from  all  old  friend- 
ships, complete  ostracism  from  all  old  associations, 
and  perhaps  starvation  for  their  children,  it  will  be 
seen  that  it  required  more  moral  strength  than  is 
possessed  by  every  woman  to  cross  the  line  that  pro- 
claimed her  an  outcast.  Women,  whose  lives  had 
been  as  pure  and  innocent  as  their  yearling  babe's, 
have  had  their  reputations  sullied  and  their  charac- 
ters assailed  in  every  imaginable  manner;  others 
have  been  sent  out  like  Hagar  into  the  wilderness, 
with,  alas,  no  angel  near  to  comfort  them,  while 
every  one  was  warned  not  to  take  them  in.  Many 
have  laid  life's  burden  down,  too  grievous  to  be 
longer  borne ;  but  to  those  who  carried  it  bravely 
through  to  the  end,  we  can  safely  say,  "  Verily,  ver- 
ily, ye  shall  have  your  reward." 

4 


CHAPTER    V. 


Mmtmn's 


A  First  Wife's  Story. — Counseled  to  Humble  His  Wife. — "Wives 
Have  no  Rights  in  this  Territory." — A  Mother's  Reason  for 
Going  to  Utah. — The  New  House. — The  Baby. — Persecutions. 
— Husband  Persuaded. — -Death  of  the  Baby. — Wife  Reluctantly 
Consents. — Consequences. — A  Death-Bed  Scene. — Escape 

riHE  following'  stories  of  first  wives  will  show 
p 

how  women  have  been,  and  still  are,  coerced 

into  giving  consent  for  their   husbands   to 

take  other  woinen,  and    also  illustrate  the 

beauties  of  that  system  which  its  votaries 

declare  brings  so  much  happiness,  and  is  so 

ennobling  to  the  female  sex. 

A   FIRST   WIFE'S   STORY. 

"  Many  friends  who  have  heard  me  complain  of 
the  sorrows  I  have  endured  in  polygamy,  censure  me 
deeply  for  having  given  my  consent  for  my  hus- 
band to  take  another  wife.  They  say  I  could  easily 
have  prevented  it  if  I  had  been  determined  and 
threatened  him  with  Gentile  law,  as  it  is  only  a  few 
years,  comparatively  speaking,  since  he  went  into 
plurality.  I  will  relate  the  facts  just  as  they  are, 
and  people  can  see  for  themselves  how  utterly  im- 
possible it  would  have  been  for  me  to  have  acted 
any  differently. 
(50) 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  51 

"My  husband  was  doing  well  in  his  business,  and 
had  frequently  been  counseled  by  various  members 
of  the  priesthood,  to  avail  himself  of  his  privilege, 
and  add  to  his  family.  It  may  not,  perhaps,  be  un- 
derstood by  the  Gentiles,  that  when  a  man  shows 
signs  of  being  prosperous,  he  is  not  given  any  peace 
until  he  has  bound  himself  in  the  chains  of  polyg- 
amy. He  is  then  a  much  greater  slave  to  the  priest- 
hood, and  not  so  likely  to  apostatize. 

"  One  day  my  husband  announced  to  me  that  he 
had  determined  to  live  his  religion,  and  take  an- 
other wife.  In  one  way  I  was  not  much  surprised, 
for  I  knew  the  influences  that  had  been  brought  to 
bear  upon  him  continually  for  months,  influences 
which  could  not  be  ignored  without  the  possibili- 
ties of  utter  ruin.  Besides,  I  had  seen  that  blight- 
ing shadow  destroy  the  peace  of  too  many  homes 
not  to  fear  that  it  might  also  cast  its  baleful  influ- 
ence over  mine;  yet  still  I  hoped  that  it  might  pass 
me  by.  We  had  lived  together  happily  for  fifteen 
years,  and  seven  children  had  been  born  to  us,  four 
of  whom  were  living.  One  of  these  children  was  a 
dearly  loved,  I  may  say,  an  idolized,  little  girl,  who 
had  been  an  invalid  from  her  birth,  and  whom  I 
had  cherished  like  a  delicate,  rare,  hot-house  flower ; 
another  was  a  babe  in  arms  ;  the  rest  were  two  stout 
hearty  little  boys,  not  old  enough  to  do  anything  to 
help  themselves. 

"  When  he  told  me  of  his  intention  to  go  into  polyg- 
amy, he  also  said  that  he  had  been  counseled  to 
marry  a  certain  woman.     I  had  many  reasons  to  re- 


52  WOMEN   OF  MORMON  ISM. 

gard  this  woman  with  special  aversion.  A  year  or 
two  previous  she  had  been  a  servant  in  my  family, 
and  in  addition  to  a  very  high  temper,  she  had  an- 
noyed and  disgusted  me  by  her  efforts  to  attract  the 
attention  of  my  husband.  He  did  not  seem  to  notice 
her  in  the  least  at  that  time,  and  made  no  objections 
when  I  discharged  her  for  an  unkind  action  toward 
my  little  girl,  whom  she  appeared  to  dislike  ex- 
tremely; and  why,  I  never  could  imagine,  for  she 
was  as  sweet  and  gentle  a  little  creature  as  ever 
lived.  Subsequently,  I  heard  that  he  had  been  ad- 
vised by  the  church  authorities  to  marry  this  woman, 
on  purpose  to  humble  me,  because  I  was  suspected  of 
having  more  spirit  and  independence  than  was  be- 
fitting a  Mormon  woman. 

"  Well,  it  is  no  use  repeating  what  I  said  to  him. 
I  knew  that  it  would  be  in  vain,  for  the  decree  had 
gone  forth.  It  was  like  a  drowning  man  clutching 
at  a  straw  when  I  wept  and  prayed  him  to  avert 
the  disaster  a  little  longer,  if  not  altogether,  and  not 
to  ruin  our  happy  home.  I  reminded  him  of  what 
we  had  been  to  each  other  for  fifteen  long  years,  and 
how  I  had  forsaken  all  my  friends  for  him ;  how  I 
had  tried  to  be  an  exemplary  wife  and  a  good 
mother  to  our  children. 

"  'It  is  well  that  you  think  of  your  children,'  was 
his  reply,  'for  if  you  will  not  do  your  duty  and 
consent  for  me  to  do  mine,  by  living  up  to  the  priv- 
ileges of  a  Latter-day  Saint,  they  shall  have  neither 
food,  clothing,  nor  shelter  of  my  providing  during 
the  coming  winter.' 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  53 

"  Gentile  ladies  who  read  this  will  perhaps  think 
that  my  husband  was  a  brute.  On  the  contrary,  he 
had  been  one  of  the  best  of  husbands,  and  had  never 
given  me  a  rough  word  in  fifteen  years  of  married 
life,  until  he  considered  himself  forced  to  '  bring  me 
to  my  senses,'  as  the  Mormons  would  say,  None 
but  those  who  have  lived  and  suffered  in  it,  can  im- 
agine the  tyranny  of  Mormonism. 

"  But  what  could  I  do  ?  Could  I  see  my  innocent 
children,  who  had  always  been  tenderly  cared  for, 
go  hungry,  naked,  and  homeless  ?  I  was  not  strong 
enough  to  do  all  my  own  household  work,  and  I  had 
a  three  months'  old  baby  at  my  breast.  I  could  not 
go  out  and  earn  their  food  and  clothes.  I  could  not 
bring  myself  to  see  them  suffer,  as  I  knew  they 
must  do,  for  I  knew  him  well  enough  to  be  assured 
that  he  would  carry  out  his  threat ;  so  I  said,  '  Well, 
if  you  must  take  another  wife,  do  so,  but  let  it  be 
any  other  woman  in  the  world  rather  than  the  one 
you  have  named.  You  know  how  hateful  she  was 
to  May,  and  how  could  I  tolerate  any  one  in  the 
house  that  would  be  unkind  to  her?  Choose  any 
other  woman  in  the  city,  and  I  will  try  to  make 
the  best  of  it.' 

"  He  answered,  '  She  it  must  be,  and  none  other, 
and  there  need  not  be  any  trouble.  You  will  keep 
your  side  of  the  house  and  mind  your  children,  and 
I  will  make  her  keep  hers.' 

"  '  Henry,'  I  said,  '  the  day  that  woman  enters  this 
house  will  be  the  last  day  of  domestic  happiness  for 
us.' 


54  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

"'I  cannot  help  it,  Mary,'  he  replied,  'I  am  de- 
termined to  live  my  religion ;  and  if  you  know  when 
you  are  well  off,  you  will  not  make  any  fuss,  but 
act  like  a  sensible  woman.  There  is  nothing  to  pre- 
vent my  leaving  ycu  without  a  penny,  if  I  like,  for 
you  know  that  women,  especially  first  wives,  have  no 
rights  in  this  Territory,  not  even  the  right  of  dower. 
Do  as  you  ought,  and  I  will  pledge  myself  that  nei- 
ther you  nor  the  children  shall  ever  want  for  any- 
thing; but  make  a  fool  of  yourself,  and  you  may  go 
where  you  like,  and  do  the  best  you  can  for  them.' 

"  Again  I  ask,  what  could  I"  do  ?  Nothing.  So  I 
consented,  went  to  the  Endowment  House,  and  gave 
as  wife  to  my  husband  the  woman  that  I  most 
hated  and  despised  of  all  women  in  the  world.  I 
saw  her  enter  my  house  and  take  my  place  in  the 
heart  of  the  man  for  whom  I  had  given  up  all  I  had 
held  dear  in  this  life.  I  know  that,  as  a  rule,  the 
Gentile  ladies  consider  the  Mormon  women  weak, 
miserable  creatures  to  bear  what  they  do,  but  the 
sacrifices  that  many  of  us  have  made  for  our  chil- 
dren will  prove  that  we  are  not  different  from  other 
women,  at  least  in  the  matter  of  a  mother's  love. 

"  I  could  tell  you  much  more,  but  to  what  purpose  ? 
I  could  tell  you  how  that  woman's  influence  awak- 
ened and  fostered  all  that  was  evil  in  my  nature, 
how  we  together  changed  my  kind,  tender  husband 
into  a  perfect  brute,  how  the  strong  arm  that  had 
defended  me  for  fifteen  years  came  to  be  lifted 
against  me,  and  how  the  death  blow  came  to  my  lit- 
tle angel  child  in  trying  to  save  her  mother  from  it, 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  55 

as  she  thought.  But  I  ask  again,  to  what  purpose  ? 
It  will  not  avail  me  anything,  for  there  is  neither 
law,  justice,  nor  mercy  for  women  in  this  Territory. 
It  was  not  my  intention  to  give  any  history  of  my 
sufferings  in  polygamy,  I  simply  wanted  to  tell  how 
I  was  coerced  into*  giving  my  consent  for  my  hus- 
band to  enter  it;  and  I  will  say  this  much,  that 
Satan  himself  could  not  devise  any  worse  tortures 
than  women  experience  in  the  infernal  system  called 
'  Celestial  Marriage.' '• 

Here  is  the  experience  of  another  first  wife  on  the 
very  same  point,  giving  consent  for  her  husband  to 
take  another  wife: — 

"A  Gentile  lady  remarked  not  long  ago  in  the 
presence  of  several  women  who  had  been  Mormons, 
that  she  had  no  patience  with  first  wives  who  gave 
consent  for  their  husbands  to  take  other  women. 
They  deserved  to  suffer  for  being  so  weak,  and  if 
they  had  been  determined  they  might  have  pre- 
vented it.  This  lady  had  been  in  Utah  a  few 
months,  and  thought  she  knew  all  the  workings  of 
Mormonism ;  but  when  she  has  lived  here  seven  or 
eight  years,  perhaps  she  will  discover  that  she  had 
not  then  found  out  the  real  inner  machinery  of 
polygamy.  It  takes  a  person  who  has  lived  in  it, 
and  suffered  in  it,  to  understand  what  it  is.  And  it 
takes  one  who  has  been  a  Mormon  herself  to  fully 
comprehend  the  pressure,  the  organized  system  of 
tyranny  that  is  brought  to  bear  upon  people  to  com- 
pel them  to  submit  to  the  dictates  of  the  priesthood. 

"  Years  ago,  a  woman  had  no  choice  but  to  submit 


56  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

or  die;  it  would  have  been  happier  for  many  if  the 
latter  had  been  their  fate,  but  they  had  ties  that 
bound  them  to  earth, — their  little  children, — so  they 
lived  on,  suffering  eternal  torments  every  day  of 
their  lives.  It  is  not  quite  so  bad  now,  perhaps,  for 
women  can  leave  their  husbands  more  easily,  and  if 
they  have  any  friends  they  can  get  away  from  Utah 
without  being  murdered  by  '  Indians  '  in  the  mount- 
ains or  on  the  plains.  But  in  another  respect  it  is 
worse,  for  now  men  will  marry  other  women  with- 
out asking  the  consent  of  their  wives,  which  was 
deemed  necessary  some  years  ago. 

"I  will  relate  my  own  experience,  and  then  let  any 
candid  person  decide  if  I  could  have  done  otherwise 
than  give  consent  for  my  husband  to  take  a  plural 
wife.  What  I  have  suffered  through  the  doctrine  of 
polygamy  cannot  be  half  told 

"My  husband  and  I  emigrated  to  Utah  nearly 
twenty  years  ago.  We  had  been  married  about 
three  years,  and  had  been  converted  to  Mormonism 
by  a  traveling  missionary  in  New  York  State  some 
three  months  previous.  We  had  been  in  haste  to 
gather  to  Zion,  not  so  much  to  be  with  God's  people, 
for  we  had  many  friends  from  whom  it  was  hard  to 
part,  and  besides,  rumors  had  reached  us  that  the 
promised  land  was  not  exactly  as  the  missionaries 
represented,  but  because  my  health  was  rather  deli- 
cate, and  a  change  was  deemed  beneficial.  We  had 
heard  of  the  glorious  climate  of  these  valleys,  and 
their  health-giving  properties,  and  were  anxious  to 
secure   their   benefits.      As   I    said,    we   had   been 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  57 

married  three  years;  but  no  little  child  had  been 
sent  to  sanctify  our  union,  and  the  Mormon  mission- 
ary had  assured  us  that  this  blessing  would  be  ours  if 
we  would  leave  wicked  Babylon,  and  cast  our  lot 
with  the  Saints  of  God. 

"  We  did  not  have  very  much  of  this  world's  goods, 
but  my  husband  was  a  superior  mechanic,  besides 
having  a  good  knowledge  of  book-keeping,  acquired 
in  leisure  hours,  and  I  was  an  excellent  needle- woman, 
consequently  we  had  no  fears  of  not  being  able  to 
make  a  living  in  any  place.  We  sold  our  little  home, 
and  the  proceeds  were  more  than  sufficient  to  defray 
comfortably  the  expenses  of  the  journey,  and  leave 
a  surplus  for  our  maintenance  until  my  husband 
should  be  able  to  get  into  some  business.  The  mis- 
sionary offered  to  take  charge  of  George's  extra 
funds,  but  he  was  not  sufficiently  blinded  or  bigoted 
to  trust  the  elder  so  implicitly.  Besides,  in  those 
days  he  was  very  independent,  and  thought  he  was 
fully  able  to  take  care  of  himself  and  everything 
belonging  to  him.  A  course  of  Mormon  dietetics 
somewhat  modified  this  characteristic,  but  for  years 
it  was  prominent  enough  to  cause  both  of  us  many 
troubles  and  heart-aches.  I  often  think  that  if  we 
had  been  '  blood-atoned  '  in  the  days  of  our  early  love, 
and  buried  together  side  by  side  in  one  grave,  we 
should  have  escaped  many  sorrows,  and  been  more 
glad  to  meet  each  other  in  the  resurrection  day  than 
we  shall  be  now.  But  regrets  are  vain,  and  what  is 
done  can  never  be  undone. 

"  We  had  heard   in   our  New  York  home  that 


58  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

polygamy  was  practiced  among  the  Saints,  but  we 
were  assured  by  the  elder  that  it  was  entirely 
optional  with  the  people  themselves,  and  that  if  a 
man's  religious  convictions  did  not  prompt  him  to  en- 
ter it,  or  if  a  wife  thought  she  was  not  fitted  to  carry 
out  the  principles  of  the  celestial  doctrine,  there  was 
no  compulsion  whatever  employed.  Of  course,  he 
depicted  in  glowing  colors  the  advantages  of  the 
system  when  lived  aright,  that  the  women  who 
embraced  it  were  perfectly  happy  in  this  life,  and 
assured  of  the  highest  bliss  in  the  world  to  come.  I 
did  not  trouble  myself  very  much  about  the  matter 
after  he  stated  so  positively  that  polygamy  was  not 
compulsory,  for  I  was  sure  that  George  would  never 
enter  it  against  my  wishes,  and  I  was  so  anxious  to 
get  to  Utah  that  I  was  willing  to  assume  almost  any 
risk.  I  was  not  a  fanatic  or  a  religious  enthusiast 
by  any  means,  but  I  had  an  irresistible  longing  to 
experience  the  joys  of  motherhood,  and  I  had  faith 
in  a  change  of  climate  to  accomplish  this  much- 
desired  end. 

"  In  due  time  we  arrived  in  Utah,  after  a  pleasant 
journey  across  the  plains,  and  my  husband  was  not 
long  in  obtaining  steady  employment.  Of  course, 
we  experienced  a  measure  of  regret  and  sorrow  at 
leaving  our  old  home,  and  severing  so  many  old  ties, 
but  the  anticipations  for  the  future  soon  overbalanced 
these,  and  our  first  year  in  Zion  was  one  of  peace 
and  contentment.  We  had  secured  a  lot,  and 
intended  to  build  a  little  home  very  soon,  and  in  my 
limited  way  I  was  making  preparations  to  adorn  it 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  59 

with  articles  of  taste,  if  not  elegance.  George  was 
fond  of  seeing  things  look  pretty  around  him,  and 
our  old  home  had  been  as  tastefully  furnished  as  our 
means  would  permit.  And  what  rendered  us  still 
happier,  was  the  fact  that  my  fond  hopes  were  to  be 
realized,  and  the  next  spring,  God  willing,  a  baby  of 
my  own  should  be  folded  to  my  breast. 

"Ah  me!  I  grow  almost  insane  when  I  look  back 
upon  those  days,  and  recall  the  memory  of  what  my 
husband  and  I  were  to  each  other.  Our  marriage 
had  been  one  of  pure  affection,  and  the  knowledge  of 
this  coming  pledge  of  our  love  drew  us  even  more 
closely  together,  and  made  earth  seem  almost  a 
Paradise.  I  used  to  stand  sometimes  by  my  open 
door  and  gaze  on  the  lovely  valley,  bathed  in  the 
evening  sunlight,  and  then  over  the  snow-capped 
mountains,  and  think  that  God  could  not  make  a 
lovelier  spot  than  my  mountain  home.  But  I  lived 
to  see  the  day  when  I  cursed  those  mountains  for 
being  my  prison  walls,  and  almost  cursed  God  for 
allowing  them  to  exist. 

"  I  need  not  tell  any  mother  the  delight  and  rapture 
I  felt  when  I  held  a  lovely  baby  boy  in  my  arms ; 
and  George  was  no  less  rejoiced.  Everything  in  our 
past  lives  seemed  nothing  when  compared  with  this 
event ;  and  from  the  number  of  congratulations  we 
received,  it  also  seemed  as  if  the  entire  city  was 
rejoicing  too. 

"  When  our  boy  was  about  six  months  old,  the 
shadow  first  began  to  gather  around  our  lives,  and 
it  was  in  this  wise.     We  had  a  neighbor,  a  polyga- 


60  WOMEN    OF   MORMONISM. 

mist  with  two  wives,  who  had  lived  pretty  peaceably 
together  up  to  that  time.  But  dissensions  began  to 
arise,  and  before  long  their  quarrels  were  the  theme 
of  the  neighborhood.  One  day  the  two  women  had 
a  severe  altercation  in  the  front  door-yard,  which 
the  husband  undertook  to  stop,  and  all  three  used  a 
great  deal  of  language  which,  to  say  the  least,  was 
very  unbecoming  to  Saints.  My  husband  spoke  his 
opinion  very  frankly  in  regard  to  an  institution 
which  produced  such  results,  and  within  the  space 
of  an  hour  it  was  carried  to  the  bishop  of  the  ward, 
who  came  down  that  very  evening  to  remonstrate 

•  with  George,  whom  he  accused  of  a  leaning  toward 
apostasy.  George,  being  high  spirited,  and  unac- 
customed to  any  dictation  or  reproof,  quietly  informed 
the  bishop  that  he  had  best  mind  his  own  concerns, 
for  he  should  entertain  any  opinions  he  chose  about 
polygamy  or  any  other  doctrine.  The  bishop  went 
directly  and  reported  to  the  church  authorities,  and 
from  that  moment  our  doom  was  sealed.    From  that 

I  moment  began  a  series  of  persecutions  which  never 
ceased  until  my  happiness  was  wrecked  forever. 

"We  had  always  been  in  the  habit  of  going  regu- 
larly to  meeting,  paying  tithes  promptly,  and  out- 
wardly conforming  to  all  the  observances  of  the 
Mormon  faith.  But  soon  George  received  an  inti- 
mation that  he  was  not  living  up  to  his  privileges  as 
a  Saint,  and  unless  he  wanted  to  make  trouble  for 
himself,  he  had  better  speak  more  respectfully  of 
the  divine  ordinance.  But,  as  I  said  before,  he  was 
an  independent  man  and  would  not  be  dictated  to; 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  61 

but  he  discovered  after  awhile  that  in  Zion  the  least 
said  was  soonest  mended,  and  a  man  who  thought 
for  himself  had  best  also  keep  those  thoughts  to  him- 
self. 

"I  could  not  recount  the  number  of  mean  and 
petty  persecutions  to  which  we  were  subjected.  We 
were  not  threatened  openly,  because  George  was 
making  money,  and  was  very  liberal  in  contributing 
whenever  he  was  called  on,  consequently  he  was  in 
good  standing.  But  he  could  never  go  to  a  meeting 
of  the  Seventies,  or  even  a  Sunday  ward  meeting, 
without  polygamy  being  hurled  at  him  in  some  way 
or  other.  I  was  very  quiet,  because  I  had  so  much 
confidence  in  him ;  and  so  long  as  I  felt  sure  that  he 
would  not  go  into  it,  I  judged  it  best  not  to  make 
matters  worse  by  talking  myself.  But  there  came 
a  time  when  all  this  was  changed.  One  evening  we 
had  a  visit  from  a  friend  whom  we  both  honored 
and  respected,  and  who  said  that  he  had  come  to 
talk  seriously  with  George.  I  believe  he  was  hon- 
est in  his  intentions,  and  firmly  thought  he  had  our 
best  interests  at  heart;  but  oh,  how  I  hate  and  de- 
spise the  very  sight  of  that  man  ! 

"He  told  us  that  if  George  did  not  change  his 
course,  he  would  either  be  sent  on  a  three-years' 
mission,  or  pay  the  penalty  of  his  indiscretion  and 
disobedience  to  the  law  of  God.  He  gave  us  the 
particulars  of  one  case,  which  had  happened  only  a 
few  months  previous.  We  knew  the  man  was  miss- 
ing:, but  nothing  more.  I  had  then  lived  in  Zion 
long  enough  to  know  what  going  on  a  mission  por- 


62  WOMEN  OF  MOEMONISM. 

tended.  For  me,  destitution,  or  hard  labor  to  keep 
soul  and  body  together,  exposure  to  all  manner  of 
insult  from  other  Saints  in  my  husband's  absence, 
and  persecution  and  slander  if  I  remained  true  to 
him.  For  him,  it  meant  a  three-years'  absence 
from  wife  and  boy  whom  he  tenderly  loved,  and 
liberty,  if  not  strict  private  orders  to  make  entan- 
glements with  any  number  of  women  he  pleased. 
I  had  known  more  than  one  missionary  to  return 
with  young  girls  as  wives, — men  whom  their  wives 
had  trusted  as  much  as  I  did  my  husband. 

"I  had  learned  a  great  deal  the  last  six  months  we 
had  lived  in  Salt  Lake  City.  Before  that,  we  had 
been  so  thoroughly  engrossed  with  our  own  affairs  as 
to  pay  little  attention  to  what  was  going  on  around 
us.  Also,  he  had  been  purposely  kept  in  ignorance 
of  evil  deeds  that  were  transpiring  almost  every 
day.  I  had  learned,  too,  what  was  meant  by  '  pay- 
ing the  penalty,' — a  lonely,  unmarked  grave  some- 
where on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  or  a  ghastly 
corpse  left  in  some  secluded  locality  to  be  the  prey 
of  wild  animals.  We  listened  to  our  friend,  and 
were  impressed  by  his  sincerit}^,  and  he  gave  us  un- 
mistakable tokens  that  he  had  not  come  of  his  own 
accord,  but  had  been  commissioned  from  head-quar- 
ters.   When  he  was  leaving  he  said,  '  Think  of  what 

I  have  been  telling  you,  brother  and  sister  M , 

for  it  would  be  a  pity  if  that  fine  little  fellow  there 
should  wake  up  some  morning,  and  find  himself 
fatherless,  and  perhaps  motherless  too.' 

"I  was  silent  during  the  interview,  but  the  mo- 


NEW  RESIDENCE  OF  THE  LATE  MAYOR  LITTLE'S  RES- 

BRIGHAM  YOUNG.  IDENCE. 


GREAT  SALT  LAKE.     (Black  Rock  Bathing  Resort.) 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  63 

ment  he  was  gone,  I  could  not  restrain  my  feelings 
any  longer,  and  I  burst  into  tears,  exclaiming,  'O 
George,  let  us  get  away  from  this  dreadful  place! 
I  cannot  consent  to  your  embracing  that  dreadful 
doctrine,  and  yet  I  feel  it  is  true,  what  brother  B. 
'has  said,  that  you  will  either  be  blood-atoned  or 
\sent  on  a  mission.'  He  soothed  me  as  well  as  he 
could,  assured  me  I  need  not  fear  he  would  break 
my  heart  by  taking  another  woman,  and  that  per- 
haps all  would  yet  come  right  in  the  end. 

"We  agreed,  however,  that  for  the  present  he 
should  be  very  cautious  in  expressing  his  views,  and 
not  say  anything  more  against  polygamy  openly. 

"  From  that  day  forward  an  almost  unaccountable 
change  came  over  him.  Formerly,  he  used  to  talk 
of  polygamy  with  loathing;  now  he  would  say  some- 
times that  it  was  a  good  enough  doctrine  for  some 
people  if  it  was  lived  aright,  but  it  would  never  do 
for  him.  I  know  that  he  was  continually  pursued 
by  some  of  the  elders,  acting  under  instructions, 
and  when  they  found  that  he  no  longer  talked 
against  it,  they  followed  up  what  they  thought  a 
decided  advantage.  After  six  months  more  of  this 
persecution,  he  became  almost  maddened,  and  told 
me  that  he  believed  the  best  thing  for  all  of  us 
would  be  to  submit.  He  assured  me  that  matters 
could  not  remain  in  this  way  much  longer,  and 
both  our  lives  were  at  stake  if  he  did  not  take  an- 
other wife.  He  furthermore  assured  me  that  it 
would  never  make  the  slightest  difference  in  our  rela- 
tions.    He  loved  me,  and  only  me;  but  if  I  did  not 


64  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

give  my  consent,  he  could  not  answer  for  the  con- 
sequences. 

"  At  first,  I  was  angry,  indignant,  and  would 
not  listen  to  the  thing  for  a  moment.  Afterward, 
I  wept,  pleaded,  and  prayed  him  rather  to  let 
us  die  together  if  there  was  no  other  way  of  escape, 
and  our  baby  with  us,  than  to  thus  pollute  and  dis- 
grace our  household.  Oh,  the  agony  of  those  never 
to  be  forgotten  days  !  Oh,  the  martyrdom  I  suffered, 
in  having  my  heart  crucified  over  and  over  again ! 
I  got  to  such  a  pitch  of  frenzy  and  despair  that  I 
almost  cursed  my  darling  b"oy,  who  was  commen- 
cing to  toddle  after  me  and  lisp  my  name,  as  the 
author  of  this  misfortune.  God  forgive  me,  for  I 
knew  not  what  I  did ! 

"  While  I  was  in  that  state  of  anguish,  our  boy 
was  taken  ill  suddenly,  and  though  apparently  in 
perfect  health  one  morning,  on  the  next  his  little 
helpless  form  lay  ready  for  the  grave.  I  can  never 
trust  myself  to  speak  of  this  occurrence.  Mothers 
will  comprehend  my  feelings,  and  to  others  my 
grief  is  too  sacred  to  be  even  mentioned.  If  it  were 
not  absolutely  necessary,  I  would  not  relate  what 
follows;  but  how  can  these  evils  be  remedied  unless 
their  infamy  is  exposed?  While  my  husband  and 
myself  stood  weeping  over  the  cold  and  senseless 
form  of  our  idolized  little  one,  a  certain  member  of 
the  Mormon  priesthood  entered  the  chamber,  and 
said  to  me,  'Sister  M.,  this  dispensation  of  Provi- 
dence is  not  mysterious  to  us  who  can  see  clear///; 
it  is  only  a  punishment  for  your  pertinacity  in 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  65 

not  permitting  brother  G.  to  do  his  duty  and  live 
his  'religion.  And  mark  my  words,  you  will 
never  have  another  child  as  long  as  you  oppose 
the  will  of  the  Lord.'  We  were  both  so  com- 
pletely bowed  clown  with  .sorrow  that  we  neither 
understood  fully  his  brutality,  nor  had  power  to  re- 
sent it. 

"  George  said  subsequently  that  if  he  had  only 
been  himself,  that  man  would  never  have  left  the 
house  alive.  But  as  it  was,  his  words  sunk  into  my 
heart,  because  he  was  considered  a  just  and  good 
man,  and  I  was  tortured,  almost  consumed,  with 
doubt  and  fear.  Friends  urged  me  to  seek  the  con- 
solation of  religion  in  my  sorrow.  Every  influence 
possible  was  brought  to  bear  upon  me.  I  went  con- 
stantly to  the  meeting-house,  where  polygamy  was 
dinned  forever  in  my  ears,  and  the  wickedness  of 
opposing  the  celestial  ordinance  fully  set  forth.  My 
physical  strength  gave  way.  In  mind  I  became 
almost  an  imbecile.  And  as  the  months  sped  by, 
and  gave  me  no  signs  or  hopes  of  maternity,  I  be- 
gan to  think  that  I  was  cursed  of  God,  and  was 
only  expiating  my  own  sin.  Then,  when  the 
mother  love  grew  again  so  strong  as  to  be  almost 
uncontrollable,  when  day  and  night  were  haunted 
by  visions  of  the  child  who  had  gone  from  me  for- 
ever, and  whom  I  so  ardently  yearned  to  replace,  in 
a  period  of  unusual  weakness  of  mind  and  body,  I 
took  the  fatal  step,  I  gave  consent  for  my  husband 
to  share  my  place  with  another. 

"  I  was  not  allowed  to  relent.  No  time  was  given 
5 


66  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

me  to  reconsider.  A  girl  had  long  been  picked  out 
for  him.  They  were  married  in  the  Endowment 
House,  and  he  took  her  back  to  her  mother  until  a 
home  could  be  provided  for  her.  He  had  enough 
respect  for  me  not  to  bring  her  to  my  house,  and  I 
know  that  in  his  heart  he  regretted  the  deed  as  soon 
as  it  was  done.  But  this  infernal  doctrine  will  de- 
stroy all  that  is  good  in  the  best  men.  They  can 
learn  to  look  unmoved  upon  sorrows  that  would 
awaken  pity  in  the  heart  of  Satan  himself.  Men 
who  would  not  allow  the.  wind  to  blow  roughly 
on  their  wives,  will  learn  to  see  them  hungry  and 
naked  without  a  pang,  and  their  children  the  same. 
Sometimes,  when  I  sit  and  meditate  upon  the  atroci- 
ties that  have  been  perpetrated  in  the  name  of  God 
and  religion,  I  wish  I  had  the  tongue  of  an  angel, 
that  I  might  go  forth  to  the  world  and  proclaim  the 
truth  as  it  is. 

"  I  ask  now  if  I  was  not  excusable,  if  not  justified, 
in  giving  consent  for  my  husband  to  go  into  polyg- 
amy. I  might  perhaps  have  held  out  a  little  longer, 
but  in  all  probability  the  end  would  have  been  the 
same.  I  yielded  in  a  time  of  weakness,  and  whether 
or  not  I  deserved  to  suffer  as  my  Gentile  friend  de- 
clared, I  have  been  richly  repaid  for  it  all  the  same. 

"  After  George  had  married,  he  did  not  return  to 
my  lonely  home  for  several  days.  He  was  afraid 
to  meet  the  storm  of  grief  and  indignation  which 
he  knew  I  could  not  repress.  And  when  he  did 
come,  I  felt  as  if  I  could  have  torn  him  in  pieces. 
I  wanted  to  kill  him  with  my  own  hand,  and  then 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  67 

I  could  have  fallen  dead  at  his  feet.  He  was  not 
my  own  husband  any  longer,  the  life  of  my  life, 
and  soul  of  my  soul.  Another  had  come  between 
us  and  severed  the  mystic  bond  that  had  made  us 
one.  He  could  never  be  to  me  again  on  earth  what 
he  had  been  before. 

"  The  girl  he  married  had  been  brought  up  in  a 
polygamous  family,  and  of  course  had  been  taught 
to  consider  the  institution  a  religious  one,  although 
her  faith  had  been  somewhat  weakened  by  the 
scenes  of  strife  and  discord  to  which  she  had  been  a 
daily  witness  almost  all  her  life. 

"  Though  .she  did  me,  unwittingly  perhaps,  the 
most  grievous  wrong  that  one  woman  can  do  an- 
other, yet  I  will  not  be  unjust  to  her.  She  was 
naturally  good  tempered,  and  never  deliberately  set 
to  work  to  torture  or  annoy  me,  as  I  have  known 
too  many  plural  wives  to  do.  Still  I  hated  her 
with  a  more  than  mortal  hatred,  for  had  she  not 
come  between  me  and  my  all  in  this  world? 

"  As  soon  as  possible  a  house  was  built  for  her  quite 
near  my  own,  and  it  was  as  handsomely  fitted  up  as 
his  means  would  permit.  I  was  not  stinted  in  any 
comforts,  had  all  I  desired,  and  for  awhile  George  was 
as  kind  and  attentive  to  me  as  before.  He  returned 
punctually  when  the  week  was  over,  and  always 
professed  that  he  was  delighted  to  get  back  to  me, 
his  wife  and  his  only  love.  While  he  was  absent  I 
did  nothing  but  weep  and  mourn,  and  if  by  chance 
a  neighbor  ventured  in,  I  could  not  refrain  from 
speaking  my  mind  freely  about  the  abominable  in- 


68  WOMEN   OF   MORMONISM. 

stitution.  When  he  was  with  me  I  tried  to  be  as 
much  like  my  olden  self  as  possible,  for  I  could  not 
blame  him  entirely,  knowing  as  I  did  that  he  had 
been  almost  forced  into  it.  But  the  specter  had 
come  between  us,  and  could  not  but  make  his 
ghastly  presence  perceptible  sooner  or  later. 

"After  awhile  George  would  leave  the  house  im- 
mediately after  supper,  almost  every  evening,  saying 
that  he  had  a  little  business  out,  and  must  also  look 
in  upon  Emma  a  few  moments,  as  she  was  not  at  all 
well,  and  perhaps  he  would  tell  me  not  to  wait  up 
for  him,  as  he  might  be  late.  Of  course  I  rebelled, 
for  during  all  our  married  life  previous  to  his  enter- 
ing polygamy,  he  had  scarcely  spent  an  evening 
away  from  home  unless  I  accompanied  him.  But 
my  remonstrances  were  in  vain.  His  answer  would 
be,  '  Mary,  you  know  that,  as  I  have  married 
Emma,  it  is  only  my  duty  to  do  what  is  right  by 
her,  and  she  is  now  in  a  condition  to  demand  my 
care  and  attention,  while  you  are  strong  and  well, 
and  do  not  need  me  at  all.'  Then,  when  I  would 
reproach  him  with  having  lost  his  love  for  me,  which 
only  a  few  short  months  ago  he  had  assured  me  was 
strong  as  ever,  he  would  reply  impatiently,  '  Do  n't 
be  a  fool,  Mary;  of  course  I  love  you,  and  always 
shall,  but  I  cannot  neglect  Emma  just  to  gratify 
your  whims.  Do  be  reasonable  and  look  upon 
things  in  their  proper  light.  I  provide  for  you  and 
am  as  kind  to  you  as  I  ever  was;  but  you  ought  to 
see,  yourself,  that  at  present,  my  place  is  by  Emma's 
side  instead  of  yours.'     Think   of   it,   you   happy 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  69 

wives,  especially  you  who  may  be  childless,  what  a 
religion,  that  drags  your  husband  away  from  you  to 
the  side  of  another  woman  who  has  the  expectation 
of  being  a  mother  by  him!  Think  of  a  religion 
that  has  so  benumbed  the  moral  and  intellectual  fac- 
ulties of  a  wife,  that  she  immolates  herself  on  such  a 
foul  altar,  in  hopes  that  the  coveted  boon  may  be  be- 
stowed upon  her.  When  I  think  upon  it,  I  only 
wonder  that  those  in  the  outside  world,  calling  them- 
selves  disciples  of  the  loving  and  tender  Christ  who 
was  the  friend  of  woman,  do  not  come  with  fire  and 
sword,  and  sweep  the  monster  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  that  commits  such  atrocities  in  his  dear  name. 

"I  was  alone,  in  my  lonely,  childless  house,  I  will 
no  longer  call  it  a  home,  when  the  tidings  were 
brought  to  me  that  a  son  was  born  to  my  husband's 
second  wife.  Oh,  the  unutterable  anguish  of  that 
long,  dreary  night!  I  walked  the  floor  until  the 
dim  light  of  early  morning,  when  my  tottering  limbs 
refused  to  bear  me  any  longer,  and  1  fell  to  the  floor, 
where  I  lay  for  hours  in  a  semi-unconscious  state. 
There  was  feasting  and  rejoicing  in  the  other  house, 
while  a  darkness,  worse  than  that  of  death,  lay  over 
mine. 

"Another  year,  and  still  another  went  by,  and  the 
reward  for  which  I  had  bartered  my  happiness  had 
not  been  vouchsafed  to  me.  A  little  daughter  had 
been  added  to  the  other  household,  ami  1  was  drink- 
ing in  its  fullness  the  bitter  cup,  for  my  husband  no 
longer  made  any  pretense  of  staying  with  me.  His 
home  was  with  his  other  wife  and  her  children.     I 


70  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

have  no  doubt  but  she  made  it  pleasanter  for  him 
than  I  did,  with  my  tears  and  reproaches ;  and  while 
fondling  her  children,  he  forgot  all  about  the  little 
boy  who  was  sleeping  on  the  dreary  hillside  alone. 

"  Soon  after  her  second  child  was  born,  I  deter- 
mined not  to  live  in  that  unnatural  manner  any 
longer.  I  would  make  him  choose  between  us, 
and  if  she  were  his  choice,  I  would  go  entirely 
away  from  him  and  live  out  my  own  life.  I  felt 
convinced  that  I  could  not  exist  another  year  in  that 
way,  and  retain  my  senses;  and  perhaps  if  we  were 
separated  forever  I  could  live  out  the  measure  of 
my  days,  not  in  happiness,  that  never  could  be,  but 
without  the  intense  suffering  which  I  now  experi- 
enced every  day  and  hour.  I  could  easily  have 
died ;  but  pride,  if  nothing  else,  should  keep  me  alive, 
at  least  until  I  had  severed  all  relations  with  him. 

"I  will  relate  here  an  incident  which  occurred 
about  this  time,  not  that  it  has  any  bearing  on  my 
own  story,  but  because  it  illustrates  so  well  the  de- 
moralizing influences  of  the  infamous  system. 

"  A  man  with  two  wives  lived  only  a  short  distance 
from  my  house.  He  was  a  brute  by  instinct,  and 
potygamy  had  made  him  even  more  brutal.  He 
was  one  of  those  who  were  not  contented  with 
breaking  their  wives'  hearts,  but  tried  to  break  their 
heads  also.  At  times,  their  home  was  like  the  infer- 
nal regions,  an  abode  of  strife  and  discord  ;  and  yet, 
the  first  wife,  perhaps  in  memory  of  their  youth, 
was  as  patient  and  forbearing  as  a  woman  could 
possibly  be.      But  now,   this  man  lay  dying,  and  I 


WOMAN'S  CONSENT.  71 

was  summoned  with  some  other  neighbors  to  render 
a  little  assistance.  If  I  could  live  to  he  a  thousand 
years  old,  I  never  should  forget  the  horrible  scene 
which  transpired  in  that  chamber  of  death.  Several 
persons  were  present,  among  them  the  second  wife, 
when  the  first  wife  attempted  to  enter  the  room. 
The  second  tried  to  prevent  her,  but  another  woman 
assisted  her,  and  both  together  forced  open  the  door. 
I  knew  this  woman  as  the  first  wife  of  a  certain 
man,  and  that  her  life  had  been  ruined  on  account 
of  polygamy;  and,  strange  to  say,  her  husband  and 
his  other  wife  were  also  in  the  room.  When  she  had 
effected  an  entrance,  she  turned  to  the  second  wife  of 
the  dying  man,  and  said  in  thrilling  tones,  '  This  is 
his  wife,  and  she  has  a  right  to  be  here,  which  you 
have  not.'  Then  looking  at  her  own  husband's  sec- 
ond wife,  she  said,  '  I  want  you  to  remember  that 
if  my  husband  ever  lies  dying,  and  you  try  to  pre- 
vent me  from  entering  the  room,  I  will  hurl  you, 
yes,  hurl  you  out  of  the  house ! ' 

"In  the  meantime  the  poor  old  wife  of  the  dying 
man  stood  by  the  bedside  weeping.  '  Why  do  y<  >u 
weep?'  said  the  woman,  who  appeared  almost  like 
an  avenging  angel;  'you  should  rather  laugh,  for 
you  are  now  free  from  your  misery.  There  lies 
the  man  who  wrecked  your  happiness,  and  ruined 
your  life,  powerless  to  harm  you  any  more ! '  Then, 
touching  the  hand  of  the  man  already  cold  with 
approaching   death,    she   exclaimed,  '  Thank   God, 

THIS  CAN  NEVER  STRIKE  A  WOMAN  AGAIN ! '  Nearly 
all  the  occupants  of  the  room  left  in  horror,  frightened 


72  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

at  the  appearance  of  this  awful  woman.  I  said  to  her, 
'  Sister  H- — ■,  what  has  come  over  you,  you  act  as  if 
you  were  crazy  ? '  She  grasped  my  hand,  and  re- 
plied, '  Sister  M ,  I  am  almost  wild  when  I  think 

what  this  infernal  doctrine  of  polygamy  has  done  for 
us  poor  women  ! ' 

"As  my  principal  object  in  unveiling  the  past  was 
to  explain  how  I  was  beguiled  into  polygamy,  I 
will  not  say  much  in  regard  to  how  I  came  out  of 
it,  except  that  I  was  the  victim  of  all  manner  of 
slanderous  tales;  but  for  that  I  was  partially  pre- 
pared, and  knew  that  I  should  have  to  live  them 
down.  When  I  first  told  my  husband  of  my  de- 
cision, he  was  violently  angry;  but  when  he  saw 
that  I  was  not  to  be  moved,  he  told  me  to  go  where 
I  liked,  that  he  should  remain  with  his  wife  and 
children.  In  accordance  with  instructions  from 
some  of  the  priesthood,  he  sold  the  roof  over  my 
head,  and  in  the  darkness  of  evening,  I  went  forth, 
with  only  a  little  bundle  containing  a  change  of 
clothing  in  my  hand, — went  forth  from  the  home 
where  I  had  seen  so  much  happiness,  and  afterward 

so  much  misery.     I  went  to  sister  H ,  the  first 

wife  alluded  to  before,  and  asked  shelter  for  the 
night,  which  was  willingly  granted.  1  remained 
with  her  a  few  days,  and  then  I  was  fortunate 
enough  to  obtain  a  situation  as  needle- woman  in  a 
family  that  were  themselves  inclined  to  apostasy, 
but  whose  wealth  and  position  kept  them  from  the 
persecution  that  would  have  been  dealt  unsparingly 
to  poorer  people. 


WOMAN'S   CONSENT.  73 

"  Since  then,  I  have  been  in  a  measure  prospered. 
Yet  still  my  life  has  been  a  lonely  and  desolate  one. 
But  he  who  ruined  my  happiness,  did  not  in  the  end 
encompass  his  own.  He  took  more  wives,  and  many 
children  were  born  to  him,  but  the  most  of  them 
died  in  childhood,  and  those  who  were  spared  did 
not  prove  either  a  comfort  or  a  blessing.  Lonely  as 
m)r  lot  is,  I  would  not  exchange  it  for  his. 

"Not  long  ago,  I  met  him  in  the  street  face  to  face. 
We  had  not  spoken  together  for  ten  long  years.  I 
was  about  to  pass,  but  he  stopped  me,  and  said, 
'  Mary,  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  do  not  wish  to 
speak  to  me,  after  the  way  I  treated  you.  But  I 
only  want  to  say  this,  I  hope  that  just  punishment 
will  be  meted  out  to  those  who  separated  us.' 

"I  drew  my  veil  over  my  face  to  hide  my  tears  as 
I  answered  him,  '  We  were  to  blame  ourselves,  and 
this  cursed  libel  on  the  name  of  religion,  polygamy!' 

"  We  have  not  met  since,  and  as  I  said  once  before 
in  the  course  of  this  narrative,  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not 
even  look  on  his  face  in  the  resurrection  day." 


4^^^ 


CHAPTER    VI. 


itq$  Mmm 


Both  Fanatic  and  Fool. — A  Husband's  Promise. — The  Husband 
Ensnared. — Happiness  of  Polygamous  Families. — Sickness.  — 
The  Vow.— English  Mollie.— The  Third  Wife.— A  Religious 
Enthusiast. 

N  the  ensuing  narrative  of  a  first  wife  we  de- 
gj  sign  to  show  the  evil  effect  of  the-  system 
p||>!  on  those  living  .in  it,  and  who  may  have 
ta  once  advocated  it  from  a  conscientious  mo- 
tive. It  was  originally  published  under  the 
title  of  "  What  Polygamy  has  done  for 
Women:  " — 

" Since  reading  some  articles  in  the  Anti-Polyg- 
amy Standard  on  the  evil  effects  of  polygamy,  I 
have  been  considering  a  great  deal,  and  at  last  have 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  my  duty  to  relate 
my  experience  on  this  point,  and  tell  what  the 
dreadful  system  has  done  for  me.  It  is  a  very  diffi- 
cult task  for  a  woman  to  write  herself  down  either 
a  fanatic  or  a  fool,  and  I  have  been  both;  yet  still, 
T  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  horrors  of  the  system 
can  never  be  fully  ventilated  or  truly  told,  unless 
Ave  women  who  have  been  mixed  up  with  it  are 
willing  to  put  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  and  help 
on  the  good  work  by  exposing  its  iniquities  to  the 
(74) 


A   FIRST    WIFE'S  REVENGE.  75 

world.  No  other  consideration  on  earth  could  in- 
duce me  to  acknowledge  what  a  dupe,  and  after- 
ward what  a  virago  I  was,  except  the  hope  that  it 
may,  perhaps,  have  some  influence  in  preventing 
another  woman  from  sharing  the  same  fate.  I  wish 
only  that  the  Standard  could  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  every  young  girl  in  this  Territory.  Hundreds  of 
them  would  gladly  read  it,  and  profit  by  its  teach- 
ings, if  it  were  placed  within  their  reach. 

"  My  husband  and  self  became  converted  to 
Mormon  ism  in  an  Eastern  State  through  the 
preaching  of  a  traveling  missionary.  We  were 
both  enthusiastic  converts,  and  speedily  removed 
to  Zion,  bringing  with,  us  two  little  ones  and  a 
fair  share  of  this  world's  goods.  While  on  the 
plains,  we  heard  of  the  doctrine  of  polygamy;  but 
I  was  in  such  an  abnormal  state  of  mind,  beino 
so  completely  infatuated  with  the  new  religion,  that 
I  received  the  announcement  of  the  revelation  with 
comparatively  little  astonishment.  I  was  so  con- 
vinced that  the  Saints  were  God's  chosen  people  that 
it  seemed  impossible '  to  me  that  they  could  err  in 
any  tiling,  even  though  their  practices  should  be  en- 
tirely at  variance  with  all  the  ideas  I  had  held 
hitherto  in  regard  to  these  subjects.  I  remember  one 
old  lady  making  the  remark  that  it  (polygamy) 
must  be  a  dreadful  cross  for  the  women  to  bear,  and 
I  answered  her,  '  Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he 
chasteneth.'  But  this  was  before  the  cross  was 
given  me  to  carry  myself.  My  sentiments  in 
regard  to  the  Lord  having  anything  to  do  with  it 


7G  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

underwent  a  decided  change  after  I  had  personal 
experience  of  the  doctrine  in  my  own  family. 

"  Of  course,  after  we  had  been  in  Zion  for  awhile, 
my  husband  was  admonished  to  'live  his  religion.' 
When  I  found  the  cross  likely  to  come  home  to  me, 
although  I  began  to  feel  very  different  about  it,  I 
had  still  sufficient  faith  in  the  system  as  a  divine 
principle,  not  to  violently  oppose  my  husband.  I 
told  him  it  would  break  my  heart  to  see  another 
supersede  me  in  his  affections;  but  that  I  loved 
him  too  well  to  peril  his  future  glory,  and  prevent 
his  exaltation  in  the  next  world,  consequently  1 
would  sacrifice  my  own  feelings,  and  not  oppose 
him,  if  he  would  promise  me  solemnly  that  I  should 
always  be  first  in  his  esteem  and  regard.  This  he 
readily  did,  and  I  went  with  him  to  the  Endowment 
House,  and  gave  him  as  wife  a  young  girl,  a  daugh- 
ter of  one  of  the  high  priests  who  had  been  chosen 
for  him.  It  is  only  justice  to  say,  that  however 
my  feelings  were  wounded  by  his  conduct  in  after 
days,  there  was  no  courtship  or  love-making  before 
they  were  sealed.  He  was  simply  told  by  the 
priesthood  that  she  would  make  a  suitable  wife  for 
him,  and  he  obeyed  counsel.  He  used  frequently  to 
say  to  me  that  it  would  make  but  little  difference  to 
him  whom  he  should  take  as  second,  that  he  should 
do  it  only  from  religious  conviction  in  order  to  se- 
cure future  exaltation,  and  that  I  should  always  re- 
tain the  first  place  in  his  heart. 

"It  may  seem  incredible  to  outsiders  that  the 
priesthood  should  take  it  upon  themselves  to  order 


A    FIRST    WIFE'S    REVENGE.  77 

men  to  marry  certain  girls,  and  that  they  should  obey ; 
but  any  one  who  has  ever  been  a  Mormon  knows 
that  this  is  a  very  common  occurrence.  Polyga- 
mists  who  have  large  families,  if  they  are  men  high 
in  authority,  will  often  thrust  two  of  their  daugh- 
ters on  some  man  at  the  same  time,  and  it  is  very  sel- 
dom that  he  will  dare  refuse ;  others  again,  will,  like 
Jacob  of  old,  make  the  best  of  a  Leah,  in  order  to 
win  a  Rachel. 

"  While  we  were  in  the  Endowment  House,  at  the 
very  altar,  a  realization  of  what  I  had  done, — given 
my  husband  to  another  woman, — seemed  to  rush  over 
me,  and  after  one  moment  of  agony  that  is  inde- 
scribable, I  fainted  at  his  feet.  He  seemed  also  to 
realize  the  situation ;  but  it  was  too  late  for  regrets, 
and  the  consequences  had  to  be  borne  as  well  as  we 
could. 

"  The  young  bride  was  brought  home  to  my  house, 
and  became  one  of  our  family,  no  provision  for  sep- 
arate housekeeping  being  made  for  her.  I  tried  to 
feel  kixidly  toward  her ;  for  after  I  had  consented  to 
the  marriage,  I  was  woman  enough  to  try  and  treat 
her  well ;  although,  at  times,  the  very  sight  of  her  at 
my  table,  or  sitting  in  my  little  sewing-room  with 
my  husband  at  her  side,  almost  drove  me  wild  with 
jealousy,  even  before  I  perceived  that  she  was  using 
all  her  arts,  and  every  means  at  her  command,  to 
win  his  affections  from  me.  She  was  a  true  daugh- 
ter of  her  father, — a  man  who  stepped  on  hearts  as 
if  they  were  stones, — and,  little  by  little,  I  discovered 
how  she  was  ensnaring  my  husband,  getting  him  so 


78  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

completely  in  her  power,  and  under  her  control,  that 
he  seemed  to  have  no  thoughts  for  any  one  but  her. 
In  less  than  six  months,  her  influence  over  him  be- 
came so  strong  that  he  did  her  bidding  as  if  he 
were  a  mere  child,  while  wife  and  little  ones  were 
totally  neglected.  When  he  entered  the  house,  he 
would  rush  oft' to  her  apartment,  unmindful  of  me,  or 
the  children  whom  he  had  always  met  with  a  smile 
and  a  kiss.  I  cannot  describe  the  change  that  came 
over  our  home  in  those  few  months;  and  when  I 
found  that  I,  his  true  and  loyal  wife,  Avho  had  left 
home,  friends,  and  kindred  to  follow  him  to  the  prom- 
ised land,  was  being  neglected  and  almost  totally  dis- 
carded for  a  girl  whose  name  we  did  not  even  know 
one  short  year  before,  I  became  nearly  insane  with 
grief  and  remorse.  I  suffered  the  bitterest  kind  of 
remorse,  for  in  reality  I  was  more  to  blame  in  the 
outset  than  he ;  and  I  could  not  disguise  from  my- 
self the  fact  that  I  had  dug  a  grave,  and  buried  my 
happiness  with  my  own  hands. 

"  Of  course,  I  made  matters  worse  constantly  by 
my  tears  and  reproaches;  for,  after  awhile,  it  be- 
came impossible  for  me  to  control  myself.  The 
house  was  a  perfect  hell,  as  every  polygamous 
household  is.  No  matter  what  the  advocates  of 
polygamy  may  say  to  the  contrary,  I  aftirm  here, 
and  I  wish  it  could  be  circulated  all  over  the  United 
States,  that  I  have  never  known  a  polygamist  fam- 
ily, and  I  have  been  intimate  with  many  from  the 
highest  in  authority  down,  where  hatred  and  dis- 
cord did  not  exist.     I   have   known   families  -who 


A    FIBST    WIFE'S   REVENGE.  79 

were  extolled  as  models  of  respectability  and  exem- 
plary conduct,  where  the  most  disgraceful  quarrels 
were  of  daily  occurrence,  and  I  have  also  known 
instances  where  the  wives  have  scarcely  risen  from 
their  knees  after  family  devotions,  before  they 
would  begin  to  quarrel,  and  call  each  other 
by  the  lowest  kind  of  epithets.  And  what  is  more, 
I  defy  any  man  or  woman  in  this  Territory,  to  cite 
one  instance  of  a  polygamous  household  where  there 
is  anything  approaching  harmony, — where  there  is 
not  bickering,  constant  jealousy  and  heart-aches, 
even  where  the  semblance  of  good  relations  is  most 
rigidly  observed. 

"  I  could  name  one  family  that  has  been  fre- 
quently held  up  as  a  model  of  purity,  loveliness, 
and  piety,  the  polygamous  wives  and  daughters 
being  designated  as  'tabernacles,  wherein  dwelt 
holy  spirits,'  and  I  know  for  a  fact  that  one  of 
those  plural  wives  tried  to  poison  another  whom  she 
thought  was  the  recipient  of  too  much  attention 
from  the  husband.  It  is  now  no  secret,  but  a  mat- 
ter of  common  talk,  that  more  than  one  of  those 
lovely  and  pious  daughters  are  so  lost  to  even  the 
outward  forms  of  decency  that  their  best  friends 
have  abandoned  all  hope  of  their  reformation. 
When  I  look  back  and  think  of  what  I  have  known 
to  happen,  as  well  as  personally  suffered,  'I  become  al- 
most desperate,  and  am  ready  to  exclaim,  '  Can  there 
be  a  God,  when  such  a  system  is  permitted  to  grow 
and  flourish  in  what  is  called  a  Christian  land! ' 

"  I  have  been  digressing  from  my  narrative,  but 


80  WOMEN   OF  M0BM0NI8M. 

my  readers  must  bear  with  me,  and  permit  me  to 
have  my  own  way  in  telling  my  story.  I  am  en- 
tirely unaccustomed  to  writing-  for  the  press,  and 
must  relate  facts  and  occurrences  in  my  own  simple 
language  and  manner,  trusting  that  truth  will  atone 
for  the  many  other  deficiencies. 

"  I  told  how  I  could  not  longer  control  myself 
when  I  saw  my  husband  so  devoted  to  Louise,  and 
what  exasperated  me  still  more  was  the  fact  that 
she  knew  how  to  use  my  folly  to  her  own  advan- 
tage.  . 

"No  matter  how  enraged  I  was,  she  was  always 
cool;  but  her  calm  and  often  silent  scorn  was  far 
more  difficult  to  endure  than  rage  would  have  been. 
One  day,  after  a  scene  which  was  more  than  usually 
tempestuous  on  my  part,  she  said  to  me,  '  Sister 
Sarah,  it  seems  as  if  you  ought  to  be  able  to  control 
your  temper  by  this  time.  Can  you  not  see  that 
your  fury  only  makes  brother  B.  love  me  the  more?' 
I  was  so  maddened  by  that  word  love,  that  I  threw 
the  glass  I  was  wiping  at  her  head,  .shattering  it,  and 
inflicting  quite  a  severe  flesh  wound  upon  her  fore- 
head. If  I  had  been  sure  that  the  blow  would  have 
killed  her,  it  would  have  been  all  the  same,  for  I 
was  too  enraged  to  think  of  consequences. 

"This  episode  angered  my  husband  so  much  that 
he  threatened  to  provide  a  separate  home  for  Louise, 
and  also  to  leave  me  entirely.  I  did  not  care,  and 
told  him  so;  and  I  presume  he  would  have  done  it 
at  once,  if  I  had  not  fallen  ill  suddenly,  the  result  of 
grief   and  excitement.      Whether  to  avoid  scandal, 


Hon.   ELI  H.  MURRAY 


Governor  or  Utah. 


A    FIRST.    WIFE'S   REVENGE.  81 

or  whether  he  still  felt  some  of  the  old  affection  for 
me,  I  do  not  know ;  but  he  certainly  gave  me  every 
care  and  attention,  and  nursed  me  as  tenderly  as  if 
there  had  never  been  any  estrangement  between  us. 
Sometimes  she  would  share  his  night  watches  by  my 
bedside,  and  when  she  could  not  be  present  in  the 
room,  she  managed  that  another  person  should,  if 
possible,  so  as  not  to  allow  me  any  opportunity  of 
talking  with  him  alone,  fearing  lest  I  should  regain 
my  old  influence  over  him. 

"  One  night,  when  they  thought  I  was  asleep, — I 
always  feigned  to  be  asleep,  if  I  were  not  really  so, 
when  she  was  in  the  room, — they  were  talking 
about  me  and  my  illness,  and  my  husband  said, 
'We  ought  not  to  blame  Sarah  too  much;  it 
certainly  must  be  a  great  trial  to  her,  for  she  loved 
me  devotedly.'  'That  may  be  so,'  she  replied, 
'but,  William,  you  know  that  I  love  you  just  as 
well  as  she  ever  has;  yes,  better,  for  she  is  colder 
hearted  naturally  than  I  am.  I  know  that  I  should 
die  if  you  should  ever  turn  against  me,  or  take 
another  whom  you  would  love  more  than  you  do 
me.'  I  felt  as  if  I  could  spring  from  my  bed,  and 
choke  her,  but  I  controlled  myself,  and  waited  for 
his  reply.  'You  need  never  fear  that,  Louise,'  he 
said,  '  I  shall  never  care  for  any  one  but  3rou. ' 

"  Strange  to  relate,  I  lay  there  quietly,  not  giving 
any  sign  that  I  had  heard  one  word.  I  suppose  my 
feelings  were  in  part  paralyzed  by  grief,  but  still  I 
experienced  a  thousand  deaths  in  those  few  moments. 
Whatever  of  love  and  esteem  there  was  remaining 


82  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

for  my  husband,  seemed  to  be  struck  dead  as  it  were 
by  one  blow,  and  I  lay  awake  the  rest  of  that  long, 
wearisome  night,  pondering  and  planning  what  I 
could  do  to  render  them  as  miserable  and  unhappy 
as  they  had  made  me.  I  made  a  vow  which  I  only 
kept  too  well,  that  he  should  care  for  another 
besides  her,  and  that  I  would  live  to  see  her  experience 
the  same  torments  I  had  gone  through,  which  had 
killed  all  that  was  lovable  or  womanly  in  my  nature, 
and  had  left  me  but  a  wreck  of  my  former  self, 
in  body,  mind,  and  soul. 

"I  laid  my  plans  well,  and  was  not  in  particular 
haste  in  trying  to  put  them  into  execution.  After 
my  recovery,  my  husband  abandoned  the  idea  of 
furnishing  another  home  for  Louise,  and  we  lived  on 
together  as  before.  But  Louise  and  I  seemed  to 
have  changed  places  and  dispositions.  I  became  so 
indifferent  to  him  that  his  attentions  to  her  no  longer 
annoyed  me  or  gave  me  pain.  Consequently,  she 
did  not  have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  me  get  into  a 
temper,  and  this  of  itself  seemed  to  irritate  her 
beyond  measure.  I  used  to  go  about  my  work, 
apparently  so  intent  on  my  own  affairs  that  I  did 
not  care  to  notice  either  of  them,  while  all  the  time 
I  was  'thinking  what  a  glorious  reveno-e  I  should 
have  some  da}'  on  both  of  them.  Louise  was  no 
housekeeper,  in  fact,  she  greatly  disliked  domestic 
labor  of  any  kind,  so  I  exerted  myself  more  than 
ever  to  always  have  everything  neat  and  comfortable. 
1  always  had  as  good  meals  as  possible,  for  William 
was  something  of  an  epicure  in  his  way,  and  enjoyed 


A   FIRST    WIFE'S  REVENGE.  83 

the  good  things  of  this  life.  He  was  an  excellent 
provider,  so  far  as  materials  for  cooking  were 
concerned,  and  I  always  made  the  best  of  them. 

"I  wish  I  could  adequately  express  my  thoughts 
and  feelings  at  this  period  of  our  lives.  I  did  not 
feel  jealous  at  William's  devotion  to  Louise,  for  love 
was  dead ;  I  hated  her,  and  nearly  hated  him,  and 
treated  them  both  with  supreme  indifference;  yet, 
when  lying  awake  as  I  often  did  for  hours  during 
the  night,  thinking  of  my  position  as  an  unloved 
and  unloving  Avife,  and  of  the  happy  years  we  had 
spent  together  before  this  unhappiness  came,  my 
heart  would  become  as  tender  as  a  child's,  and  I 
would  shed  many  bitter  tears.  Then,  when  I  thought 
of  the  woman  who  occupied  the  place  that  was 
rightfully  mine,  I  would  banish  all  regret,  fight  it 
oat  by  myself,  and  the  next  morning  would  be 
again  the  hardened,  heartless  woman,  whose  main 
object  in  life  was  to  secure  revenge. 

"  It  may  be  thought  strange  that  I  have  not  spoken 
of  my  children.  During  those  dark  days,  they 
were  a  great  comfort  to  me,  and  a  great  sorrow  too, 
for  the  poor  innocents  had  to  bear  the  consequences 
of  their  parents'  transgression.  The  place  they 
called  home  was  that  only  in  name,  and  the  scenes 
to  which  they  were  daily  witnesses,  were  enough  to 
ruin  any  children.  But  I  am  thankful  for  one 
thing,  that  all  this  had  the  effect  of  making  them 
despise  polygamy,  so  that  they  were  never  entangled 
in  its  meshes. 

"Louise  had  been  sealed  to  my  husband  for  nearly 


84  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

two  years  before  she  had  a  child,  and  when  a  little 
girl  was  born,  it  seemed  to  me  that  she  was  not  over 
pleased.  She  was  naturally  indolent,  and  her  train- 
ing had  not  remedied  that  defect;  consequently,  any 
labor  or  responsibility  was  irksome  to  her,  and  the 
idea  of  having  a  child  to  care  for  was  not  what  she 
desired,  and  was  far  from  being  agreeable.  She  had 
been  treated  like  a  spoiled,  petted  child  by  William, 
and  since  she  had  lived  in  my  family,'  she  had  spent 
the  most  of  her  time  in  dressing  and  making  herself 
captivating  to  my  husband;  but  that  could  not  last 
forever. 

"During  her  illness,  my  family  cares  and  nursing 
her  in  addition,  were  too  much  for  me,  and  William 
told  me  to  get  some  help.  An  emigration  was  ex- 
pected in  that  very  evening,  and  I  went  to  the  tith- 
ing yard  to  secure  a  girl.  I  found  a  young  English 
girl  about  sixteen  years  old,  as  fresh  and  pretty  as  a 
picture,  and  strong  and  willing  to  work.  She  was 
a  very  good  Saint  too;  and,  as  I  soon  discovered, 
was  not  in  the  least  averse  to  living  her  religion,  and 
securing  future  exaltation  by  plurality. 

"English  Mollie,  as  the  children  named  her,  had 
been  in  the  house  only  a  few  days,  when  William 
remarked  what  a  bright,  pretty  girl  she  was,  and  so 
smart  for  her  age.  This  remark  set  me  thinking 
that  perhaps  the  way  was  opened  for  thai  revenge  I 
was  so  longing  for,  and  before  long  I  had  my  plan 
all  perfected.  Women  who  have  never  been  placed 
in  a  similar  position  will  probably  say  that  I  was  a 
very  wicked,  designing  wretch.     Well,  if  I  was,  it 


A    FIRST   WIFE'S  REVENGE.  85 

was  polygamy  that  made  mo  so,  and  I  fearlessly  as- 
sert that  the  system  is  responsible  for  the  ruin  of 
more  women  than  can  ever  be  estimated,  or  even 
imagined. 

"  My  plan  was,  that  English  Mollie  should  be  my 
husband's  third  wife,  and  I  felt  sure  there  would  be 
no  difficulty  in  accomplishing  it.  William  had  very 
soon  forgotten  his  promises  to  me,  and  I  imagined 
that  he  would  not  be  any  more  faithful  to  Louise. 
My  first  step  was  to  insist  upon  a  separate  home  for 
her.  I  pleaded  my  inability  to  care  for  such  a  large 
family  any  longer,  and  I  was  so  determined  that  I 
soon  carried  this  point,  and  a  few  weeks  found  Louise 
in  another  home,  a  little  cottage  not  far  from  us. 
English  Mollie  went  with  her  to  assist  in  getting 
settled,  but  came  back  to  me  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days. 

"  In  a  very  short  time  the  trouble  began,  as  I  had 
foreseen  that  it  would.  William  would  come  to  my 
house  complaining  that  he  could  not  get  a  meal  fit  to 
eat,  that  the  house  was  always  untidy,  the  baby  cry- 
ma-  continually,  and  things  generally  in  a  muddle. 
He  wanted  Mollie  to  go  back  again,  when  I  told  him 
plainly  that  there  was  only  one  condition  upon  which 
I  would  permit  her  to  return,  that  she  should  be 
sealed  to  him  first.  He  seemed  a  little  surprised  at 
the  proposal,  but  did  not  object.  After  a  man  has 
taken  the  first  plural  wife,  he  can  take  twenty  with- 
out any  compunctions  of  conscience.  But  he  was 
afraid  that  Louise  would  never  consent,  and  perhaps 
Mollie  would  not  be  willing.     I  answered  him  that 


86  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

it  was  not  necessary  to  inform  Louise  about  it,  that 
she  would  get  over  it  as  I  had;  and  as  for  Mollie,  I 
would  undertake  to  get  her  consent.  I  told  him  that 
as  Louise  was  such  a  poor  manager,  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  have  some  one  to  keep  things  in  order, 
and  Mollie  had  grown  very  competent  even  in  the 
short  time  she  had  been  under  my  tuition. 

"  When  I  found  him  quite  willing  to  be  sealed  to 
Mollie,  I  consented  for  her  to  go  there  again,  in  order 
to  straighten  up  matters,  but  I  extorted  a  solemn 
promise  from  him  not  to  inform  Louise  of  his  matri- 
monial intentions  for  the  present.  Mollie  also  was 
pledged  to  secrecy, — it  had  taken  just  ten  minutes  for 
me  to  convince  her  that  it  was  her  duty  to  enter  po- 
lygamy,— and  we  arranged  that  the  marriage  should 
not  take  place  for  a  few  months,  or  until  Mollie 
should  have  time  to  get  ready  some  wedding  gar- 
ments, which  I  had  promised  to  assist  her  in  making. 

"  Mollie  had  been  at  the  cottage  about  two  weeks 
when  she  came  to  my  house  one  evening,  saying  that 
Louise  had  sent  her  away,  ordering  her  never  to  re- 
turn again.  It  seems  that  William  and  she  had  been 
indulging  in  a  little  surreptitious  love-making,  and 
Louise  had  discovered  them.  She  was  very  indig- 
nant, and  in  a  day  or  two  came  down  to  me,  almost 
boiling  over  with  rao-e  at  '  Mollies  brazen  conduct,' 
as  she  expressed  it.  I  apparently  agreed  with  her, 
in  order  to  throw  her  off  her  guard,  and  said  that 
Mollie  was  only  to  remain  in  my  house  until 
she  could  find  another  home.  I  also  said  that  she 
had  another  home  in  view,  but  I  did  not  say  where 
that  home  was. 


A    FIRST    WIFE'S    REVENGE.  87 

"  On  account  of  the  circumstances,  we  hastened  the 
preparations,  and  in  about  two  weeks  we  had  every- 
thing ready.  I  went  with  them  to  the  Endowment 
House,  and  then  invited  them  home  with  me  to  re- 
main two  or  three  days  until  lie  could  furnish  her 
rooms  at  the  cottage.  I  told  William  that  he  had 
better  place  her  in  charge  at  once,  and  Louise  would 
come  to  her  senses  after  awhile,  as  I  had. 

"After  returning  from  the  Endowment  House,  I 
sent  word  to  Louise  to  come  and  take  supper  with 
me,  as  I  had  company  I  would  like  her  to  meet. 
She  declined  because  the  baby  was  so  cross,  but 
would  come  later  in  the  evening.  When  she  came 
in,  we  were  all  seated  in  the  parlor,  and  I  shall  never 
forget  the  satisfaction,  I  may  say  exultation,  I  felt- 
as  I  said :  '  Louise,  allow  me  to  present  brother  B. 
and  his  third  ivife.  They  were  married  to-day,  and 
will  come  and  live  with  you  next  week.' 

"She  turned  scarlet,  then  pale  as  death,  and  I 
thought  she  was  going  to  faint.  But  instead,  she 
broke  into  a  terrible  passion  of  rage,  which  frightened 
all  the  rest,  and  brought  in  some  of  the  neighbors  to 
see  what  was  the  matter.  But  I  Avas  not  frightened, 
and  I  went  up  to  her  and  said,  'Louise,  you  must 
not  indulge  in  so  much  temper,  you  must  control 
yourself;  don't  you  know  it  will  only  make  brother 
B.  love  Mollie  all  the  better?'  At  these  words  she 
burst  into  tears  and  said:  '  I  can  see  it  all  now;  this 
is  your  work,  and  you  have  done  it  for  revenge  '. 

'"You  are  not  far  out  of  the  way,'  was  my  reply, 
and  now  you  will  have  an  opportunity  of  knowing 
what  you  made  me  sutler  when  you  stole  my  hus- 


88  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

band's  heart.  You  will  also  know  what  it  is  to  be 
an  unloved  and  neglected  wife.'  She  left  my  house 
cursing  me,  and  calling  down  on  my  head  the  ven- 
geance of  Heaven  for  having  been  the  instrument  of 
so  much  deception  being  practiced  on  her. 

"To  tell  of  the  dreadful  life  they  led  afterward,  and 
how  Mollie  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  mastery  over 
'him,  so  that  Louise  was  completely  ignored,  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  latter,  who  had  really  loved  William, 
and  her  sorrowful  death  some  years  later,  would 
more  than  till  a  large  volume.  He  was  a  just  man, 
so  far  as  providing  for  his  families  in  accordance 
with  his  means,  so  she  did  not  want  for  temporal 
comforts;  but  she  literally  died  of  a  broken  heart, 
when  she  found  it  impossible  to  win  him  back.  It 
did  not  matter  to  me  how  devoted  he  was  to  Mollie, 
so  long  as  he  provided  for  my  children,  for  my  love 
for  him  was  buried  too  deep  ever  to  be  resurrected  on 
earth. 

"  Women  of  America,  honored,  loved,  and  loving 
wives,  see  what  the  awful  system  of  polygamy  has 
done  for  me  !  I  was  a  religious  enthusiast.  I  was 
a  devoted  wife,  would  almost  have  sacrificed  my  own 
hopes  of  heaven  to  add  to  my  husband's  happiness. 
I  was  accounted  an  amiable  woman,  and  would  not 
have  wronged  the  meanest  or  lowest  of  my  sex.  But 
polygamy  lias  not  only  robbed  me  of  my  earthly 
happiness,  it  has  also  deprived  me  of  all  future 
hope,  for  1  have  no  faith  in  any  religion  whatever. 
It  made  me  the  meanest  kind  of  a  deceiver  in  carry- 
ing out  a  plan  of  revenge,  and  caused  me  to  glory 
in  the  sufferings  of  another  woman.     It  made  me  so 


A   FIRST  WIFE'S  REVENGE.  89 

unwomanly  as  to  pick  out  another  wife  for  my  hus- 
band, when  I  felt  in  my  own  soul  that  polygamy 
was  no  more  ordered  by  God  than  it  was  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws  of  man,  and  I  did  it  simply  to 
make  another  woman  unhappy.  It  has  made  me 
lose  all  love  for  the  husband  of  my  youth,  and  the 
father  of  my  children,  and  left  me  a  cold,  calculating, 
heartless  woman,  only  enduring  his  presence  for  the 
sake  of  the  material  comforts  provided  for  me.  It 
has  taken  from  me  all  that  I  held  dear  in  this  world, 
and  left  me  no  hope  for  the  world  to  come. 

"  Women  of  America;  can  you  hesitate  when  your 
assistance  is  implored  for  the  overthrow  of  this  vile 
system  which  renders  women  a  shame  and  a  disgrace 
to  their  sex  ? " 

We  omit  the  latter  portion  of  this  woman's  story, 
relating  how  she  became  an  apostate,  because  it  is  al- 
most identical  with  those  of  other  women  who  have 
broken  the  chains  of  Mormon  ism.  They  all  have 
about  the  same  experience  to  undergo, — slander,  perse- 
cution, and  social  ostracism  from  the  Mormons.  The 
only  difference  between  the  present  and  the  past  is, 
that  now  they  have  not  quite  so  much  difficulty  in 
obtaining  employment,  as  there  are  more  Gentiles  in 
the  Territory,  and  consequently,  less  absolute  de- 
pendence on  those  who  dare  not  disobey  counsel  in 
their  treatment  of  the  unfortunates  who  have  laid 
themselves  under  the  ban  of  the  priesthood.  Still, 
she  is  a  brave  woman  who  even  to-day  severs  her 
connection  with  Mormonism,  unless  she  has  means  to 
leave  Utah  immediately,  and  place  herself  beyond 
the  reach  of  all  Mormon  influences. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

J  Tidim  of  fiam  ^njte. 

Married  to  a  Missionary. — The  Awakening. — Tempted  to  Murder 
Her  Own  Children. — Apostasy. — More  Demon  than  Woman. 

I  HE  next  narrative  is  one  of  a  second  wife, 
and  is  designed  to  show  the  deception  that  is 
practiced  upon  innocent  and  unsuspecting 
young  girls  in  order  to  Jure  them  "into  plu- 
ral marriage.  And  we  have  no  hesitancy 
in  saying  that  the  same  arts  are  employed 
at  the  present  time  for  the  same  purpose,  with  per- 
haps this  exception,  polygamy  is  not  so  strenuously 
denied  by  the  missionaries  abroad  as  it  was  in  former 
years.  They  will,  however,  represent  themselves  as 
single  men,  and  marry  young  girls  under  circum- 
stances precisely  similar,  to  those  narrated  in  the 
following  case  : — 

"  I  have  been  requested  by  some  of  the  ladies  of 
the  Anti- Polygamy  Society  to  tell  how  I  became  a 
polygamous  wife,  and  why  I  continued  living  in 
that  unlawful  relation,  when  1  did  not  believe  in  the 
institution  as  a  divine  ordinance,  and  hated  the  sys- 
tem with  my  whole  soul.  My  story  is  not  an  un- 
common one,  and  can  easily  find  many  a  parallel  in 
the  history  of  Mormonism. 
(90) ' 


A    VICTIM  OF  PIOUS    WORDS.  91 

"I  was  born  in  England,  and  belonged  to  a  re- 
spectable family  of  the  middle  class.  My  father  was 
a  successful  tradesman,  and  to  me,  an  only  child,  the 
best  educational  advantages  were  afforded.  In  fact, 
I  received  what  is  termed  in  that  country  a  finished 
education.  When  I  was  about  sixteen  years  old, 
my  parents  became  converts  to  Mormonism.  I  had 
always  been  religiously  inclined,  and  the  Mormon 
doctrines,  as  there  preached,  seemed  to  me  so  simple, 
beautiful,  and  good,  that  it  was  not  long  before  I  be- 
came an  enthusiastic  votary  of  the  new  religion.  I 
had  heard  that  the  Saints  in  America  practiced  po- 
lygamy, but  I  did  not  trouble  myself  much  about  it, 
as  I  did  not  anticipate  leaving  my  own  country. 
Besides,  the  missionaries  always  denied  it,  and  said 
the  report  was  only  a  wicked  invention  of  their  en- 
emies to  injure  the  reputation  of  the  Saints  in  the 
outside  world.  Subsequently,  when  I  was  sought 
in  marriage  by  a  missionary,  my  parents  inquired 
into  the  matter  very  particularly,  but  were  positively 
assured  by  him  that  no  such  thing  as  polygamy  ex- 
isted. We  were  married,  and  lived  happily  for  two 
years,  when  he  was  recalled  to  Utah,  and  I,  of 
course,  accompanied  him  to  the  promised  land.  I 
left  my  childhood's  home,  and  bade  farewell  to  my 
parents  with  many  tears  and  regrets,  yet  with 
many  bright  hopes  and  anticipations  for  a  happy 
future  in  Zion.  They  were  on  the  declining  side  of 
life,  and  could  not  bear  to  sever  themselves  from  all 
old  ties  and  associations,  but  they  gave  up  me,  their 
dearest  treasure,  and  bade  me  'God  speed'  with 
their  last  blessiner. 


92  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

"  The  shock  I  received  may  be  imagined  when  upon 
arriving  in  Salt  Lake  City,  my  husband  brought 
me  home  to  a  house,  where  another  woman  was  in- 
stalled as  mistress,  his  first  wife,  who  was  the  mother 
of  several  children.  They  told  me  afterward  that 
for  several  days  I  raved  like  a  mad  woman,  then 
came  a  long  period  of  unconsciousness.  When  I  re- 
covered from  the  attack  of  brain  fever,  and  realized 
how  shamefully  I  had  been  duped,  I  became  a 
changed  creature.  Although  my  husband  was  al- 
ways kind  and  tender,  and  provided  well  for  my 
temporal  wants,  and  his  first  wife  was  not  especially 
disagreeable,  I  could  not  forget  the  miserable  de- 
ception he  had  practiced  upon  me,  and  the  very 
name  of  religion  became  hateful  and  obnoxious. 

"After  my  health  became  somewhat  restored,  I  be- 
sought my  husband  to  permit  me  to  return  to  En- 
gland, where,  in  the  love  and  sympathy  of  my  parents, 
I  might  find  some  consolation  for  the  terrible  suffer- 
ings I  had  endured  in  my  brief  absence  from  them. 
For  some  time  he  objected,  but  at  last  he  told  me 
that  I  might  go,  since  I  was  so  unhappy;  but  I  must 
leave  my  babes  with  him,  one  scarcely  sixteen 
months  old,  the  other,  not  nearly  so  many  weeks.  I 
pleaded, oh  so  earnestly,  against  this  cruel  stipulation, 
but  he  was  inexorable.  I  could  not  abandon  my 
children,  so  for  their  sakes,  I  remained  and  bore  my 
sufferings  with  all  the  fortitude  I  could  summon  to 
my  aid. 

"  Will  any  mother  believe  me,  when  I  say  that 
often  I  was  tempted  to  give  the  little  innocents  some- 


A    VICTIM  OF  PIOUS  WORDS.  93 

thinff  that  would  make  them  sleep  their  last  long 
slumber,  thus  purchasing  freedom  from  a  life  at 
which  my  nature  revolted,  and  which  my  conscience 
told  me  was  as  sinful  as  it  was  degrading  to  my 
womanhood  ?  But  it  is  true,  and  I  marvel  now  that 
I  resisted  the  temptation  as  well  as  I  did.  Upon 
learning  the  true  state  of  affairs,  my  father  made 
preparations  to  come  to  Utah  after  me,  but  he  died 
suddenly  before  his  intentions  could  be  fulfilled,  and 
my  broken-hearted  mother  was  not  long  in  follow- 
ing him  to  the  grave.  If  I  had  only  known  how 
short  a  time  they  were  to  live,  I  should  have 
spared  them  the  knowledge  of  the  bitter  truth. 

"From  that  time  until  his  death,  my  husband 
was  kind  and  affectionate  to  me,  and  considerate 
enough  of  my  feelings  never  to  mention  the  word 
religion  in  private  in  connection  with  polygamy.  In 
his  public  talks,  for  he  was  a  member  of  the  priest- 
hood, he  used  sometimes  to  exhort  the  people  to  live 
up  to  their  religious  privileges.  "We  lived  on 
quietly  for  years,  no  one  suspecting  or  knowing  of 
my  disaffection,  but  one  trusted  friend,  who 
would  not  betray  me  for  her  own  life.  In  those 
days,  it  was  a  terrible  crime  for  a  woman  to  disbe- 
lieve any  portion  of  the  Mormon  creed,  especially  plu- 
rality, and  if  known  she  was  subjected  to  all  manner 
of  persecution.  My  husband  loved  me  well  enough 
to  shield  me  from  the  consequences  which  must  in- 
evitably ensue,  should  my  true  feelings  become 
known  to  those  in  authority.  Though  he  deceived 
me  so  outrageously,  yet  he  would  not  betray  me ;  and 


94  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

I  must  do  him  the  justice  to  say,  that  apart  from 
his  delusion,  he  was  one  of  the  best  and  truest- 
hearted  men  that  eve]'  lived. 

"After  he  died  I  gradually  withdrew  myself  and 
family  from  all  Mormon  influences,  devoting  myself 
entirely  to  my  children,  whom  I  taught  secretly  to 
abhor  the  very  name  of  Mormonism.  I  was  in  very 
comfortable  circumstances,  because  what  my  dear 
parents  left  had  come  to  me,  consequently  I  did  not 
need  to  labor  for  a  support.  But  I  was  obliged  for 
years  to  use  the  utmost  caution  in  teaching  what 
was  contrary  to  Mormon  doctrine,  and  I  tremble 
now,  when  I  look  back  and  think  of  my  temerity  in 
doing  as  I  did.  The  same  course  has  caused  more 
than  one  woman,  and  her  children  also,  to  be  blood- 
atoned.  But  I  succeeded  in  rearing  my  children  as 
I  desired  in  that  particular.  If  I  had  not,  I 
would  a  thousand  times  rather  have  laid  them  in 
their  graves. 

"As  for  me,  I  am  sometimes  at  a  loss  how  to  de- 
fine myself.  Often  I  think  I  am  more  demon  than 
human.  I  have  two  lovely  and  interesting  daugh- 
ters, both  honored  wives  and  mothers,  (the  rest  of 
my  children,  thank  God,  died  in  babyhood,  and  in 
heaven,  if  there  is  one,  there  will  be  no  slurs  cast 
upon  their  birth),  and,  although  I  was  so  heartlessly 
beguiled  into  the  system,  sometimes  I  can  scarcely 
help  regarding  them  as  children  of  shame.  Before 
I  came  to  Utah,  I  was  a  trustful,  true-hearted 
girl,  and  in  religious  fervor  almost  a  devotee.  Now, 
I  am  but  a  poor,  miserable  apology  for  a  woman.     I 


A    VICTIM  OF  PIOUS    WORDS. 


95 


have  no  belief  in  anything ;  no  confidence  in  human- 
ity, no  faith  in  religion,  no  hope  in  God!  I  am  sim- 
ply a  wreck,  like  thousands  of  other  women,  whose 
lives  have  been  blasted  under  this  cruel  system. 

"This,  ladies,  is  my  story.  Take  it,  if  you  will 
and  tell  the  women  of  America  what  polygamy  has 
done  for 

'One  Woman."  " 


^T^^^3 


^£^^n> 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

J  $lm<i  to  %  Ifari  nsj. 

Sorrows  of  Plural  Wives. — An  Elder's  Importunities. — An  Un- 
willing Consent. — Slavery. — A  Disappointed  Lover. — Escape 
from  Home. — Tracked. — Driven  Back. — Shameful  Neglect. — 
Leaving  Home  a  Second  Time. — Lying  Justified. — A  Husband's 
Treachery. — Doubts  and  Apostasy. 


5!"  ■"• 


fcW^WpE  now  present  another  story  of  a  second 
t  meL^  wn°e>  wnicn  illustrates  still  another  phase 
Jfo^f^v'y  of  the  ''divine  ordinance,"  and  shows  the 
^TsK^'-)  m°tives  that  sometimes  induce  first  wives 
Jfeffi  to  give  other  women  to  their  husbands. 
/®r\  This  young  girl  was  very  sweet  and 
amiable  naturally,  and  the  woman  who 
treated  her  so  harshly  was  never  considered  as 
either  cruel  or  vindictive,  until  polygamy  developed, 
or  perhaps  engendered,  these  evil  qualities.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  truth  in  the  remark  once  made 
by  an  old  Mormon,  "My  wife  was  a  perfect  angel 
until  I  took  a  second,  and  then  she  became  a  perfect 
demon." 

"The  majority  of  people  have  the  idea  that  in 
polygamy  the  grievances  are  all  on  the  side  of 
the  first  wife,  and  that  the  other  women  spend 
the  most  of  their  time  in  planning  how  to  annoy 
her  and  make  her  miserable.      Let  me  relate  my 

(96) 


A   SLAVE   TO   THE  FIBST    WIFE.  97 

.story,  and  people  will  see  that  the  plural  wives  also 
have  their  sorrows,  and  are  deserving  of  commisera- 
tion and  .sympathy  too.  It  will  also  be  seen  that 
the  first  wives  are  not  always  so  averse  to  their 
husbands'  going  into  polygamy  as  outsiders  often 
think.  In  my  own  experience,  I  have  known  more 
than  one  first  wife  to  choose  a  second  wife  for 
her  husband. 

"I  came  to  Utah  a  number  of  years  ago,  when  I 
was  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  There  were  quite 
a  number  of  Saints  going  from  our  town,  and  my 
parents  allowed  me  to  go  with  a  neighbor's  family, 
because  I  was  in  rather  delicate  health,  and  one 
of  the  elders  told  my  mother  that  the  climate  of 
Zion  would  soon  restore  me  to  perfect  strength. 
The  rest  of  the  family  and  my  parents  were  to  ■ 
follow  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  and  in  the 
meantime  I  was  to  be  partially  in  charge  of  the 
elder  and  his  wife,  who  promised  to  find  me  a  good 
situation.  I  was  an  excellent  needle-woman,  having 
lived  for  years  in  a  nobleman's  family  as  nurse- 
maid, and  latterly  as  seamstress;  but  my  failing- 
health  had  obliged  me  to  leave  my  place  and  return 
home. 

"After  we  had  started  on  the  journey,  I  found 
that  the  fact  of  the  elder's  having  a  wife  did  not 
prevent  him  from  offering  me  what  I  thought  were 
decided  insults,  and,  what  astonished  me  still  more, 
his  wife  did  not  resent  his  attentions  to  me.  I  knew 
very  well  that  the  Saints  in  Utah  practiced  polyg- 
amy, but  I  never  had  any  thought  of  entering  it,  for 


98  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

I  had  a  sweetheart  in  England  who  was  to  emigrate 

later  on  with  my  own  family. 

"Soon  after  arriving  in  Salt  Lake  City  I  was 
taken  down  with  intermittent  or  mountain  fever, 
and  was  very  ill  for  many  weeks.  The  elder  and 
his  wife  were  very  kind  to  me,  and  nursed  me  as  if 
I  had  been  a  sister.  But  as  soon  as  I  Avas  able  to  1  >e 
around  a  little,  they  both  commenced  to  talk 
polygamy  to  me,  told  me  it  was  my  duty  to 
enter  it,  not  only  to  repay  them  for  their  kindness, 
but  also  as  the  means  of  saving  my  soul.  I  ob- 
jected very  strongly,  told  them  I  could  not  marry  at 
all,  because  they  knew  very  well  that  I  was  engaged 
before  I  left  England,  and  I  had  no  idea  of  giving 
up  my  own  lover  for  another  woman's  husband. 
But  the  more  I  objected,  the  more  they  urged  me, 
and  at  last,  beincf  weak  from  recent  illness,  and  being 
entirely  penniless  and  a  stranger,  without  a  friend 
in  the  place,  (my  neighbor's  family  from  England 
having  gone  to  one  of  the  settlements),  I  consented. 
What  made  me  yield  was  the  threat  that  if  I 
persisted  in  refusing,  I  should  be  turned  out  of 
doors,  and  the  Saints  all  told  that  I  was  a  bad 
character.  As  I  said  before,  I  was  very  weak  and 
nervous,  not  at  all  able  to  shift  for  myself,  and 
under  these  circumstances  consent  was  wrung  from 
me.  They  both  promised  that  I  should  always 
be  well  cared  for,  and  be  treated  in  the  family  as  an 
equal  in  every  respect. 

"  If  I  had  not  consented,  I  presume  that  I  should 
have  been  turned  out  of  doors,  perhaps  in  the  night, 


A  SLAVE  TO   THE  FIRST   WIFE.  99 

for  such  things  used  to  be  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
early  days.  After  I  had  become  a  plural  wife,  I 
learned  of  one  instance  where  a  young  girl  refused 
to  become  the  fourth  wife  of  a  certain  bishop,  and 
she  was  sent  away  from  the  house  at  midnight.  Of 
course  the  neighbors  missed  her,  and  inquiries  were 
made,  but  no  one  seemed  to  know  what  had  become 
of  her.  A  few  days  afterward  it  was  rumored  that 
her  body  had  been  found  in  the  Jordan  river,  and 
in  relation  to  that  fact,  a  good  Mormon  remarked  in 
our  own  house,  that  'Dead  people  tell  no  tales.' 

"But  to  return  to  my  own  story.  Before  many 
months  had  passed  I  found  out  that  she,  at  least, 
never  had  any  intention  of  keeping  the  promise 
that  I  should  be  well  treated,  and  that  she  urged 
him  to  marry  me  simply  because  she  wanted  a 
servant.  I  believe  that  he  would  have  been  kind  to 
me,  if  he  had  not  been  so  completely  under  her 
influence.  He  was  naturally  a  peaceful  man,  and 
did  as  she  desired  him  in  order  to  avoid  having 
trouble  with  her. 

"I  had  been  married  to  him  but  three  months, 
when  a  younger  sister  of  his  told  me  that  Polly  sup- 
posed the  president  (Brigham  Young)  would  make 
him  go  into  polygamy  some  day,  and  she  wanted 
him  to  marry  me  because  I  would  make  a  good 
'nigger,'  for  she  meant  the  second  wife  to  be  nothing 
but  a  '  nigger '  who  would  know  her  place,  and  keep 
it,  too.  She  told  me,  also,  that  it  was  arranged 
between  them  before  they  left  England  that  he 
should   marry   me   when   we   reached   the   valley, 


100  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

and  that  I  should  be  entirely  under  her  control 
and  direction.  She  was  willing  he  should  be  ex- 
alted in  heaven ;  but  she  was  also  determined  to  be 
recompensed  for  it  on  earth. 

"For  three  years  she  did  with  me  just  as  she 
pleased.  I  was  as  much  of  a  slave  as  any  negro  who 
ever  lived.  I  could  not  begin  to  tell  the  privations 
I  endured.  Sometimes  I  was  without  food,  except  a 
little  dry  bread,  for  two  or  three  days  together, 
often  without  fire  in  the  winter,  and  in  addition,  1 
had  scorn  and  insults  to  bear  from  the  first  wife. 
She  would  often  call  me  by  names  that  decency  will 
not  let  me  repeat,  and  if  the  husband  attempted 
to  take  my  part,  she  would  turn  on  him  too. 
He  sometimes  promised  to  leave  her  entirely  and 
take  me  away,  but  he  never  could  shake  off  her 
influence  long  enough  to  think  or  act  for  himself. 

"  I  did  all  the  household  work  for  the  family,  and 
when  there  was  nothing  else  to  be  done  in'  the  house, 
washing  and  ironing  and  fine-sewing1  were  taken  in, 
which  I  did,  and  she  put  the  pay  in  her  pocket.  I 
had  no  friends  in  whom  I  could  confide,  because  she 
always  took  good  care  that  I  should  not  leave 
the  house  except  in  her  company,  so  I  never  had  the 
chance  of  making  any  acquaintances  of  my  own. 

"  I  threatened  to  leave  the  house  once,  and  she 
told  me  that  I  would  be  glad  enough  to.  come 
back  again,  for  she  had  informed  every  one  that  I 
was  only  an  outcast  whom  they  had  picked  up 
in  the  streets  of  Liverpool,  and  were  trying  to 
reform.     I  presume  she  would  never  have  gained 


A    SLAVE  TO   THE  FIRST   WIFE.  101 

so  complete  a  mastery  over  me,  if  my  intellect  had 
not  been  seriously  weakened  by  the  fever.  I  never 
should  have  gone  into  polygamy  if  I  had  been 
entirely  in  my  right  mind. 

"  The  young  man  to  whom  I  was  promised, 
had  been  my  sweetheart  from  the  time  we  were 
village  children  together,  and  we  were  very  much 
attached  to  each  other.  If  I  had  been  perfectly 
myself,  I  know  I  could  not  have  been  false  to 
him.  When  he  heard  what  I  had  done,  he  went  to 
Australia  instead  of  coming  to  America,  and  I 
never  heard  anything  more  from  him. 

"  My  first  child  was  born  dead.  I  was  in  labor  two 
days,  and  had  no  assistance  whatever  until  a  kind 
neighbor  who  learned  my  situation,  came  and  did 
what  she  could  for  me.     My  husband's  first  wife  said 

she  was  glad  the  little was  dead,  for  if  I  had  a 

child  to  take  care  of,  I  should  not  be  fit  for  anything 
else.  She  said,  also,  what  I  myself  believe  now,  that 
there  was  no  place  for  polygamous  children  in  this 
world;  but  for  all  that,  I  shed  many  tears  over  the 
little  girl  whose  face  I  had  only  looked  on  for  a  mo- 
ment before  she  was  taken  away  from  me  forever. 

"For  shame's  sake,  they  gave  me  pretty  good 
care  for  a  week  or  two,  because  the  neighbors  were 
beginning  to  talk  about  the  way  I  was  treated. 
After  that,  things  went  on  in  the  same  old  way 
again.  Three  weeks  after  my  illness,  I  was  doing 
all  the  work,  besides  some  extra  washing.  T  can- 
not express  the  suffering  of  both  mind  ami  body 
I    endured    all    through    that    winter.      I    believe  I 


102  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

should  have  taken  my  own  life  if  I  had  not  been 
sustained  by  the  thought  that  my  parents  would 
soon  be  here  to  rescue  and  protect  me. 

"But  when  spring  came,  instead  of  having  my 
anticipations  realized,  I  was  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment. My  father,  who  was  a  carpenter  by  trade, 
had  been  seriously  injured  by  falling  from  a  scaffold- 
ing, and  of  course  the  family  could  not  emigrate 
until  he  should  recover.  This  news  almost  drove 
me  wild,  and  in  desperation  I  left  the  house 
secretly,  and  made  my  way  to  the  residence  of  a 
Mrs.  W.,  a  Gentile  lady  whom  I  knew  by  name, 
and  who,  I  had  heard  a  neighbor  say,  was  in  need  of 
a  nurse  and  seamstress.  I  had  nothing  with  me 
but  one  change  of  clothino-. 

"  She  happened  to  be  at  home,  and  in  my  despair 
I  told  her  the  whole  story  of  my  wrongs,  and  begged 
permission  to  remain  at  once.  She  said  I  could  stay 
for  the  present,  and  if  she  found  my  story  true,  she 
would  befriend  me.  I  do  not  know  what  inquiries 
she  made,  but  she  kept  me  on  from  day  to  day,  and 
week  to  week,  and  seemed  well  satisfied  with  me.  I 
never  left  the  house,  for  fear  of  being  discovered, 
and  I  had  asked  my  fellow-servants  not  to  mention 
the  circumstances  under  which  I  had  come  then'. 
I  have  reason,  however,  to  think  that  one  girl, 
a  good  Mormon,  betrayed  me;  for  when  I  had 
been  in  the  house  about  three  months,  I  was 
called  down  stairs  one  evening,  and  there  in  the 
kitchen  was  my  husband  talking  to  my  mistress. 

"You    may    imagine  how    I    felt;  but  he  spoke 


a  Slave  to  the  first  wife.       103 

very  kindly,  promised  faithfully  that  I  should  be 
well  treated  if  I  would  return  home  with  him,  and 
said  that  if  the  first  wife  did  not  do  right  by  me, 
he  would  complain  to  the  president. 

"I  did  not  want  to  go  back,  because  I  thought 
I  could  save  enough  from  my  wages  to  keep  me 
comfortable  until  I  could  work  again,  and  my  kind 
mistress  told  him  that  as  long  as  I  wished  to  remain 
under  her  roof,  she  would  retain  and  protect  me. 

"He  appeared  very  sorry;  said  it  was  Polly  who 
had  tracked  me;  that  she  would  make  a  dreadful 
row,  and  perhaps  it  would  be  better  for  all  of  us  if  I 
would  go  home  quietly.  But  I  refused,  and  he  left 
the  house,  and  I  heard  nothing  more  for  a  few  days, 
when  my  mistress  told  me  with  tears  in  her  eyes 
that  I  must  go  home,  as  her  husband  had  been 
warned  by  the  church  authorities  that  it  would 
be  the  worse  for  him  if  lie  kept  me  in  the  house. 

"There  was  not  much  chance  of  srettinfir  justice 
in  those  days,  even  in  a  Gentile  court,  and  he  did 
not  cart' to  involve  himself  in  difficulties  for  a  per- 
fect stranger,  and  a  polygamous  wife  at  that. 
although  he  felt  very  sorry  for  my  situation.  Peo- 
ple may  think  that  this  is  exaggeration;  but 
thousands  in  Salt  Lake  City  can  bear  Avitness  to 
the  fact  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  ({entiles 
could  not  protect  Mormon  women,  except  at  the 
risk  of  their  own  lives. 

"I  went  back  with  my  husband  that  same 
evening.  1  suppose  some  people  will  say  J  Mas  very 
foolish  to  do  it.      But  1  was  without  a  friend  in  the 


104  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

city,  turned  out  of  the  only  place  of  shelter,  and  ex- 
pecting to  be  a  mother  again.  I  might,  perhaps, 
have  gone  to  the  Jordan  and  drowned  myself,  or 
lain  down  in  the  streets  and  died ;  but  that  would 
have  been  poor  consolation  for  my  parents  on  their 
arrival,  and  in  all  my  suffering  I  had  thoughts 
of  them. 

"  My  husband  was  out  of  town  on  business  when 
my  second  child  was  born.  The  same  neighbor  who 
had  been  with  me  in  my  first  trial,  kindly  assisted 
me,  and  made  me  and  my  baby  boy  comfortable 
before  she  left  us.  It  had  been  arranged  before  my 
husband  left  that  an  experienced  midwife  should 
attend  me;  but  as  he  was  absent,  his  first  wife 
refused  to  allow  her  to  be  sent  for,  saying  I  could 
get  along  very  well  without  such  a  fuss  being  made 
over  me;  it  was  all  nonsense  treating  polygamous 
women  as  if  they  were  first  tvives. 

"  And  to  their  shame  be  it  said,  many  of  the  first 
wives  look  upon  the  plural  women  as  if  they  were 
more  like  animals  than  human  kind,  and  think  that 
they  and  their  children  need  not  be  better  housed 
nor  fed  than  the  horse  in  the  stable  or  the  ox  in  the 
yard.  I  suppose  it  is  only  natural  for  a  first  wife 
to  be  jealous  of  the  second,  and  look  upon  her  as  a 
usurper  of  her  rights ;  but  if  she  professes  to  believe 
that  polygamy  is  a  divine  institution,  she  ought  cer- 
tainly to  allow  the  second  wife  to  have  her  rights 
also. 

"  Those  who  preach  polygamy  always  say  that 
the  wives  are  all  equal  in  the  sight  of  both  God  ami 


A   SLAVE  TO  THE  FIRST    WIFE.  105 

man ;  but  in  many  cases,  plural  wives  are  treated  as 
if  they  were  on  a  level  with  those  women  in  the 
outside  world  who  lead  lives  of  shame.  I  do  not 
wonder  that  Gentiles  sometimes  consider  the  polyg- 
amous women  as  no  better  than  sinful  creatures ;  for 
in  many  instances  the  first  wives  have  set  them  the 
example. 

"  After  my  neighbor  had  rendered  us  comfortable, 
she  was  prevented  from  coming  again  for  about 
twenty-four  hours,  and  during  that  time  the  first 
wife  never  came  near  me.  /  ivas  left  those  twenty - 
four  hours  entirely  alone,  without  so  much  as  a 
drop  of  water  to  moisten  my  lips.  My  poor  baby 
wailed  all  through  that  long  night.  I  was  wnable 
to  rise  and  get  him  anything  to  satisfy  li is  hunger, 
and  nature  had  not  yet  provided  anything  for 
him,. 

"We  were  both  so  nearly  dead  when  my  friend 
came  again,  that  the  first  wife  was  really  frightened, 
and  did  all  she  could  for  our  restoration.  Sister  A. 
told  her  that  if  we  died,  she  would  proclaim  her  as  a 
murderess  before  the  whole  city.  If  this  part  of 
my  story  is  doubted,  I  can  mention  more  than  one 
responsible  person  in  the  city  who  can  substantiate 
my  statements  on  oath. 

"  When  my  husband  returned,  he  was  very  in- 
dignant at  the  way  I  had  been  treated,  and  assured 
me  that  anything  like  it  should  never  happen  again. 
But  I  knew  better,  and  made  up  my  mind  quietly, 
without  saying  a  word  to  any  one,  that  as  soon  as  I 
was  able  I  would  come  out  of  polygamy  if  it  should 


106  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

cost  me  my  life.  Rather  than  live  any  longer  to  be 
treated  worse  than  a  dog,  I  would  die  like  a  dog 
in  the  streets,  if  I  could  do  no  better. 

"After  awhile  I  confided  my  intention  to  sister 
A.,  with  whom  I  had  become  quite  friendly,  and 
she  promised  to  aid  me  all  in  her  power.  When  my 
baby  was  six  weeks  old,  I  left  home  and  went  to 
sister  A.'s  house,  simply  leaving  a  few  lines  for  my 
husband,  telling  him  that  I  had  left  the  family  for- 
ever, and  would  kill  myself  and  child  rather  than 
return.  He  came  directly  after  me,  but  my  mind 
was  firmly  made  up,  and  was  not  to  be  changed. 

"  Sister  A.  talked  very  plainly  to  him ;  said  their 
treatment  of  me  had  become  town  talk,  and  even  if 
he  had  not  been  cruel  to  me  himself,  he  had  not 
controlled  his  first  wife  as  he  should.  She  ended  by 
telling  him  that  a  man  who  could  not  govern 
one  wife  had  no  business  to  be  a  polygamist,  for  the 
true  doctrine  was  that  a  husband  should  keep  all 
his  wives  in  subjection. 

"  Through  the  influence  of  sister  A.,  who  was 
universally  loved  for  her  kindness  of  heart,  I  ob- 
tained some  sewing  to  do  in  the  house;  and  my 
old  mistress,  Mrs.  W.,  was  also  very  kind  to 
me,  although  she  did  not  dare  employ  me  in  her 
family.  She  gave  me  work  at  home,  however,  ami 
paid  me  so  liberally  that  I  was  able  to  pay  sister  A. 
for  my  board,  and  was  saving  a  little  besides  for  a 
rainy  day.  My  baby  was  growing  to  be  a  fine, 
healthy  fellow,  and  I  was  beginning  to  feel  almost 
like  a  young  girl  again,  when  sister  A.'s  husband 


A  SLAVE  TO   THE  FIRST  WIFE.  107 

told  me  one  evening, — she  had  not  the  heart  to  tell 
me  herself, — that  I  must  find  another  home,  for  his 
reputation  as  a  Saint  was  becoming-  very  much 
compromised  by  harboring  an  apostate. 

"  I  replied  I  was  not  an  apostate.  I  had  not 
abandoned  Mormonism,  nor  had  I  any  intention 
of  so  doing.  I  had  only  left  a  house  where  I 
had  been  ill-treated, — yes,  shamefully  abused, — and 
without  any  cause  whatever. 

"He  said  he  felt  very  sorry  for  me;  that  as  far  as 
he  could  see  I  had  behaved  like  a  good  woman  since 
I  had  been  in  their  house,  but  there  were  many  ugly 
stories  afloat  about  me,  and  for  the  sake  of  his  own 
family  he  felt  obliged  to  tell  me  that  I  must  look  for 
another  home. 

"And  then  it  transpired  that  the  first  wife  had  been 
circulating  some  outrageous  stories  about  me, — that 
I  was  not  a  good  woman,  had  a  very  passionate 
temper,  was  almost  everything  wicked,  and  worse 
than  all,  I  was  a  vile  apostate,  and  ought  to  suffer 
the  most  severe  punishment  for  my  sins.  I  had 
been  kept  so  much  in  the  background  that  people 
knew  but  very  little  about  me;  and  as  an  evil  word 
flies  quicker  than  a  good  one,  there  were  many  peo- 
ple who  were  ready  to  believe  all  she  said,  and 
consequently  I  found  myself  in  a  pretty  bad 
situation. 

"  But  I  determined  not  to  lose  courage,  for  I  was 
expecting  my  parents  in  a  very  short  time,  and 
although  I  should  be  obliged  to  leave  sister  A.'s 
house,  yet  she  promised  to  still  befriend  me.      She 


108  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM 

procured  me  a  lodging  with  a  f fiend  of  hers  in 
another  part  of  the  city, — a  woman  whose  husband 
was  absent  somewhere  in  the  settlement  with  an- 
other wife. 

"An  emigration  had  just  come  in,  and  we  three 
agreed  to  say  that  I  was  one  of  the  new-comers,  so 
as  to  put  the  first  wife  off  the  track.  In  my  girl- 
hood I  should  have  thought  it  very  wrong  to 
tell  what  now  seemed  a  justifiable  falsehood,  but  I 
had  found  since  I  came  to  Utah  that  the  Saints 
did  not  stop  at  telling  what  was  not  true  when 
there  seemed  to  be  good  occasion  for  it.  They  fals- 
ified whenever  it  pleased  them  to  do  so.  I  never 
was  so  horrified  in  all  my  life  as  when  I  heard 
President  Young  say  on  the  stand  that  nowhere 
could  be  found  greater  or  smoother  liars  than 
among  the  Mormon  people.  That  was  really  the 
first  thing  that  shook  my  faith  in  the  principles  of 
Mormonism. 

"  Another  circumstance  occurred  about  that  time 
which  weakened  my  faith  still  more,  and  which 
probably  had  great  effect  in  causing  my  final  apos- 
tasy. There  lived  a  short  distance  from  us  a  high 
Mormon  who  had  only  one  wife,  and  who  had,  at 
her  entreaties,  managed  to  keep  out  of  polygamy, 
although  he  was  reputed  quite  wealthy.  But  all  at 
once  the  wife  imagined  that  he  was  paying  altogether 
too  much  attention  to  her  servant-girl,  whom  she 
discharged  immediately. 

"Shortly  after,  the  husband  became  very  anxious 
about  the  health  of  his  wife,  she  being  near  her 


A    SLAVE  TO  THE  FIRST   WIFE.  109 

confinement,  and  he  suggested  that  she  should  take 
her  other  child  and  stay  with  her  mother  until 
her  trial  was  over.  Nut  suspecting  any  treachery, 
she  acceded  to  his  desires  and  left  him  at  home, 
as  he  said  that  he  could  shift  for  himself  very 
well  for  a  few  weeks.  Her  mother  lived  in  an 
extreme  part  of  the  city,  but  he  seemed  very  atten- 
tive, coming  to  see  her  almost  every  day. 

"  When  her  child  was  about  a  week  old,  a  talk- 
ative neighbor  revealed  the  fact  that  her  husband 
had  been  sealed  to  the  girl  she  had  discharged  some 
two  or  three  weeks  previous.  The  wife  would 
not  believe  it,  and  was  very  indignant,  but  the  old 
lady  insisted  it  was  true,  and  added  rather  taunt- 
ingly, '  When  you  go  home  you  will  see  that  she  is 
already  mistress  in  the  house.' 

"  Almost  maddened  with  grief  and  excitement,  the 
poor  woman  rose  from  her  bed  and  went  home, 
where  she  found  it  to  be  just  as  the  old  lady  had 
said.  The  girl  told  her  insultingly  that  she  was 
a  servant  no  longer,  but  as  much  of  a  lady  as 
she  was  now.  The  injured  wife  fell  fainting  at  the 
feet  of  her  treacherous  husband,  was  taken  to  bed, 
never  regained  consciousness,  and  in  two  days  was 
carried  to  her  grave,  the  victim  of  a  husband's  perfidy. 
"  Though  I  personally  had  no  reason  to  feel  any 
sympathy  for  first  wives,  yet  this  occurrence  set  me 
thinking  that  a  system  which  was  productive  of  so 
much  sorrow  and  evil  as  even  my  own  limited  experi- 
ence had  seen,  could  not  have  been  ordered  by  God. 
•'When  once  I  began  to  have  doubts  recrardhm- 


HO  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

the  divine  origin  of  polygamy,  it  was  not  long  until  I 
disbelieved  other  portions  of  the  Mormon  creed,  and 
when  my  parents  arrived,  about  two  months  after  I 
had  left  sister  A.,  they  were  both  grieved  and  shocked 
to  find  that  I  was  on  the  high  road  to  apostasy. 

"  Even  after  I  had  related  all  my  wrongs  and 
sorrows,  as  well  as  what  I  had  seen  others  sutler, 
they  .said :  '  Never  mind,  daughter ;  though  you  had 
the  misfortune  to  fall  in  with  those  who  were  wolves 
among  the  sheep,  yet  you  must  not  let  that  shake  your 
faith  in  holy  revelation  and  the  Latter-day  prophets.' 

"I  did  not  say  much,  because  I  had  been  brought 
up  to  be  respectful,  and  to  pay  much  deference 
to  my  elders;  but  I  hoped  and  felt  sure  "that  their 
eyes  would  be  opened  before  they  had  been  in  Zion 
twelve  months. 

"I  was  not  mistaken;  and  although  we  had 
a  very  hard  time  to  get  along  for  awhile,  yet  by 
keeping  quiet,  and  not  giving  any  publicity  to 
our  real  sentiments,  Ave  escaped  much  trouble  that 
might  have  fallen  to  our  lot.  After  the  Gentiles 
began  to  come  in,  we  had,  no  trouble  in  getting 
plenty  of  work,  and  we  soon  had  a  comfortable 
home  again. 

"  I  am  married  now,  and  have  a  husband  of  my 
own, — one  whose  kindness  has  atoned  for  some 
of  those  dark  days  of  my  past  life, — but  I  can  never 
repress  a  shudder  when  I  think  of  what  I  endured 
in  polygamy,  and  it  is  hard  for  me  not  to  wish  that 
the  woman  who  was  the  cause  of  it  all  may  yet 
receive  the  punishment  which  she  so  richly  deserves." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Jitt&ijijq  u$+  jllnliiuHjnte* 

Incident  of  the  Endowment  House. — Statement  of  a  Mormon 
Bishop. — Testimony  of  a  Victim. — Result  of  a  Second  Mar- 
riage.— Testimony  of    the  United  States  District  Attorney  for 

j^E  could  present  a  large  number  of  similar 
"  heart  histories "  of  apostate  women, 
bearing  on  the  same  points  which  the 
foregoing  stories  have  illustrated;  but 
we  think  enough  have  been  given  to 
prove  that  from  the  earliest  days  of 
polygamy,  the  majority  of  victims  sacrificed  on  its 
unclean  altars  have  been  unwilling  ones. 

Every  wife  who  retains  one  spark  of  womanly 
feeling,  or  one  trace  of  a  true  woman's  nature, 
cannot  help  but  curse  the  day  when  her  home  was 
desecrated  by  polygamy;  and  among  those  from 
whom  a  verbal  consent  has  been  wrung,  by  means 
that  would  disgrace  savages,  the  same  feeling  exists. 
There  is  a  lady  living  at  present  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  (and  one  of  the  best  and  most  lovable  of 
women  she  is,  too),  who  was  induced  by  methods 
which  we  dare  not  even  mention,  to  make  the 
last  and  most  cruel  sacrifice  which  this  barbarous 
faith  demands  of  woman, — that  of  placing  the  hand 

(Hi) 


112  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

of  the  new  bride  in  that  of  her  husband.  On  their 
way  to  the  Endowment  House,  she  said  to  him:  "  I 
am  going  to  He  to  you,  lie  to  the  President,  and  lie 
to  God,  for  I  must  say  I  consent  to  this  marriage, 
when  I  had  rather  die  a  thousand  deaths  than  have 
it  take  place." 

Of  course,  polygamy  was  not  "forced  "  upon  this 
wife,  nor  upon  thousands  of  others  who  have  felt  as 
she  did;  and  yet  the  advocates  of  the  doctrine  will 
state  unblushingly  that  it  is  never  enforced  in 
any  case,  but  is  the  voluntary  choice  of  all  who  are 
living  in  it. 

In  the  year  1881  a  certain  Mormon  bishop  was 
interviewed  in  the  East  by  the  reporter  of  a  promi- 
nent metropolitan  newspaper.  In  the  course  of  his 
remarks  he  made  the  following  statements: — 

"  The  polygamous  system  is  the  only  natural  one, 
and  the  time  rapidly  approaches  when  it  will  be  the 
most  conspicuous  and  beneficent  of  American  insti- 
tutions. It  will  be  the  grand  characteristic  feature 
of  American  society.  Our  women  are  contented 
with  it, — nay,  more,  they  are  the  most  ardent 
defenders  of  it  to  be  found  in  Utah.  If  the  ques- 
tion were  put  to  a  vote  to-morrow,  nine-tenths 
of  the  women  of  Utah  would  vote  to  perpetuate 
polygamy." 

This  man  is  the  representative  of  a  class  whose 
tyranny  has  enslaved  thousands  of  victims  who 
are  living  to-day  in  Utah  Territory,  and  who  envy 
the  dead.  In  hundreds  of  homes,  the  aged  wife, 
deserted   by  just  such    a   man    as   this,   who  once 


Mrs.   A.   G.   PADDOCK, 
Salt  Lake  City.  Utah. 


EVIDENCE    IX    STATEMENTS.  113 

swore  to  love  and  cherish  her  until  death  should 
part  them,  sits  solitary  by  the  ashes  of  her  desolate 
hearth,  while  the  husband  of  her  youth,  sealed  to 
women  with  fresher  and  fairer  faces,  gives  scarcely 
a  thought  to  her  existence. 

In  hundreds  of  other  homes,  the  feeble  mother  of 
half  a  dozen  little  ones,  toils  from  morning  till  night 
to  earn  bread  for  her  family,  while  the  father  of  her 
children  spends  all  that  he  has  upon  another  wife 
who  happens  to  be  the  favorite  of  the  hour.  And  it 
is  more  probable  than  not  that  this  same  husband 
will  never  lose  an  opportunity  of  proclaiming  to  the 
world  that  "  polygamy  is  not  an  outgrowth  of  lust, 
but  is  strictly  a  religious  institution." 

In  contradistinction  to  the  statements  of  this 
bishop,  listen  to  those  of  a  woman  who  has  lived  and 
suffered  in  polygamy: — 

"  If  the  American  people  could  only  realize  all 
that  Mormonism  and  polygamy  mean  to  humanity ! 
It  renders  man  coarse,  tyrannical,  brutal,  and  heart- 
less. It  deals  death  to  all  sentiments  of  true  man- 
hood. It  enslaves  and  ruins  woman.  It  crucifies 
every  God-given  feeling  of  her  nature.  She  is 
taught  that  to  love  her  husband  as  her  heart  prompts 
her  to  do,  and  to  feel  the  natural  jealousy  that 
comes  from  seeing  her  husband  marry  another 
woman,  is  wicked,  and  springs  from  her  innate 
depravity;  that  she  must  crush  out  and  annihilate 
all  such  feelings,  and  submit  to  whatever  her  hus- 
band and  the  Mormon  church  dictate.  It  brings 
thousands  of  children  into  being  with  the  brand  of 

8 


114  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

illegitimacy  upon  them,  whose  birthright  is  hatred 
and  wickedness.  They  are  brought  forth  in  sorrow 
and  in  tears.  They  are  cradled  in  misery  and 
iniquity.  They  grow  up  hating  their  fathers,  as 
well  as  the  plural  wives  and  children.  And  at  last 
they  come  to  feel  that  if  their  parents  live  in 
that  unlicensed  manner,  they,  too  have  a  right 
to  follow  their  own  evil  inclinations.  I  solemnly 
aver  that  Mormon  polygamy  brings  no  good  to 
man,  woman,  or  child ;  but  on  the  contrary  it  brings 
them  darkness,  destruction,  and  despair." 

We  recall  the  face  of  one  woman, — a  first  wife, 
— and  yet  we  need  not  say  we  recall  it,  for  it 
haunts  us  continually.  It  is  only  four  months  since 
her  husband  was  sealed  to  a  new  wife;  but  those 
months  have  done  the  work  of  two-score  years. 
Her  face,  which  was  fair  and  youthful  less  than 
a  year  ago,  looks  now  like  that  of  one  enduring  the 
torments  of  a  lost  soul.  The  hollow  eyes,  the  blood- 
less cheeks  and  lips,  tell  that  she  is  dying  by  inches, 
and  dying,  too,  in  the  midst  of  tortures  compared 
with  which  the  rack  would  be  a  bed  of  roses. 

Can  those  who  can  never  even  imagine  them- 
selves in  her  place,  ask  why  she  submits  to  such 
a  fate?  Let  us  ask  you  in  return,  how  a  wife 
in  Utah  Territory  can  prevent  her  husband  from 
marrying  two,  ten,  or  twenty  women,  if  he  choo»  ss '. 
There  have  been  many  instances  where  women, 
aware  of  their  husbands'  intention  to  take  another 
wife,  have  gone  to  the  United  States  Court  to 
ask  help  to  prevent  the  marriage,   but  they  have 


EVIDENCE   VS.    STATEMENTS.  115 

always  been  told  that  nothing  could  be  done.  And 
then,  when  the  marriages  have  taken  place,  there  is 
absolutely  no  way  of  proving  the  felony,  or  pun- 
ishing the  law-breakers. 

The  District  Attorney  of  Utah,  in  a  recent  letter 
to  the  press,  said:  "Do  you  remember  that  the 
oilier  twin  relic,  American  slavery,  which,  thank 
God,  is  no  more,  set  up  the  same  cry  of  'Let  us 
alone'?  And  oh,  to  the  shame  of  this  great  nation 
it  must  be  written,  for  years  and  years  we  did  let  it 
alone,  until  the  bitter  wail  of  5,000,000  souls  went 
up  to  God,  and  this  nation  was  drenched  in  blood. 
To-day,  not  millions,  but  thousands  of  burdened 
souls,  who  have  experienced  the  beastly  practice, 
polygamy, — souls  whose  light  has  nearly  gone  out  in 
this  world,  and  whose  faith  in  mankind  is  weak,  if 
not  extinct, — are  praying  for  the  hour  when  they 
may  be  disenthralled  from  a  slavery  which  has  been 
a  living  death  to  them. 

"  If  every  Congressman  could  hear  the  experience 
of  some  of  the  legal  wives  of  Utah  related  by 
themselves,  and  hear  the  earnest  prayers  that  are 
often  spoken  aloud,  but  oftener  prayed  in  secret, 
there  would  be  no  need  of  any  lobby  at  the  Capitol 
to  urge  that  laws  be  passed  that  would  eventually 
stamp  out  this  relic  of  barbarism." 


CHAPTER    X. 


Help  of  the  Nation  Needed. — Timidity  of  tbe  Women  Still  in 
the  Church. — Their  Despair. — An  Infatuated  Wife. — A  Sad 
Story. — Wives  without  Legal  Rights.— The  Third  Wife. 


>«  (>  -^„T^..cv« 


^OU  have  hoard  the  stories  of  some  who 
have  had  the  courage  to  come  out  from 
these  abominations.  Now  listen  to  the 
appeals  of  those  whom  circumstances  pre- 
vent from  breaking-  their  shackles,  but 
who  would  gladly  be  free,  would  our 
Government  but  vouchsafe  to  them  assistance  and 
protection. 

The  saying,  "Who  would  be  free,  themselves 
must  strike  the  blow,"  is  undoubtedly  true  in  the 
majority  of  cases;  yet  the  questions  seem  pertinent, 
Are  all  those  in  bondage  so  circumstanced  that  they 
can  or  will  "strike  the  blow"?  ami  if  freedom  is 
not  to  be  theirs,  except  through  their  own  courage 
and  resistance,  must  they  forever  remain  in  fetters!* 
Had  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  South  de- 
pended entirely  on  the  slaves'  striking  for  freedom, 
they  would  have  remained  in  bondage  until  this 
day.  There  are  thousands  of  women  who  abhor 
polygamy  in  their  inmost  hearts,  who  feel  that  they 
(116) 


STILL   IN   THE   TOILS.  117 

have  been  deeply  wronged  and  deceived,  who  appre- 
ciate the  degrading  bondage  in  which  they  are  held, 
yet  who,  from  the  force  of  existing  circumstances, 
cannot,  unaided,  strike  the  blow  that  is  to  procure 
their  liberation.  Help  must  come  from  a  mightier 
arm  than  theirs.  The  blow  must  be  dealt  with  the 
entire  might  of  the  nation ! 

The  second  class  of  the  women  of  Mormonism, — 
those  who  are  still  in  the  church,  and  who,  perhaps, 
believe  in  all  the  tenets  of  that  creed  except 
polygamy, — are  entitled  to  heartfelt  sympathy  and 
commiseration  from  every  true  woman  in  the  land. 

Some  of  these,  the  majority,  no  doubt,  have  been 
entangled  in  its  vile  meshes;  and  they  hate,  yes, 
loathe,  the  system,  but  remain  in  it  for  the  sake 
of  bread  for  their  children.  The  life  of  these  women 
is  a  perpetual  lie,  and  an  outrage  against  every 
womanly  feeling.  They  are  obliged  to  deceive 
others  constantly,  and  sometimes  try  to  reconcile 
matters  by  deceiving  themselves,  but  are  continually 
doing  all  sorts  of  things  against  their  better  nature. 
They  would  greatly  rejoice  if  polygamy  was 
abolished;  but  they  will  not,  or  dare  not,  lift  one 
finger  in  aid  of  their  own  deliverance. 

Taking  all  things  into  consideration,  perhaps  they 
are  not  to  be  censured  as  much  as  people  might 
imagine.  They  are  very  timid,  because  so  many 
years  of  tyranny  and  oppression  have  robbed  them 
of  power  to  act  or  think  for  themselves,  even  in 
vindication  of  their  own  rights. 

Nine-tenths  of  the  women  who  have  been  Mor- 


118  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

mons  have  completely  sunk  their  own  identity  in 
that  of  their  masters.  And  though  some  of  them 
are,  in  a  great  measure,  unwilling'  slaves,  they  are 
securely  bound,  hand  and  foot,  body  and  soul,  and 
show  no  greater  desire  to  burst  their  shackles 
than  do  the  degraded  few  who  pretend  that  they 
love  their  chains  and  would  not  accept  freedom 
if  offered  to  them. 

Another  reason  is,  they  deem  the  attempt  hope- 
less, and  do  not  anticipate  or  look  forward  to 
anything  better  than  the  miserable  existence  they 
are  now  dragging  out.  They  have  long  been  taught 
that  human  law  is  powerless  to  interfere  with 
the  divine  institution,  and  this  assertion  is  verified 
in  the  repeated  failures  of  Congress  to  enact  efficient 
statutes. 

If  they  should  take  an  open  position  against 
polygamy,  the  limited  support  given  them  by  their 
husbands  would  be  withdrawn,  and  the  church- 
vials  of  slander  and  detraction  poured  forth  upon 
their  defenseless  heads.  A  polygamist  usually  pro- 
vides shelter,  flour,  and  perhaps  fuel  for  his  families, 
(other  things  they  must  obtain  themselves),  and  a 
mother  with  little  children  will  hesitate  before  taking 
a  step  that  will  deprive  her  even  of  these. 

The  Mormon  emissaries  abroad  invariably  lay  much 
stress  upon  the  point  that  the  polygamists  "support 
their  wives  and  acknowledge  their  children."  We 
assert,  and  challenge  a  contradiction  of  the  assertion, 
that  not  more  than  one  polygamist  in  ten  furnishes 
his  families  with  more  than  flour  and  fuel,  and  that 


STILL  IN  THE  TOILS.  119 

not  one  in  a  hundred  furnishes  anything  approach- 
ing an  adequate  support. 

If  these  women  had  only  the  least  idea,  or  the 
faintest  hope,  that  the  overthrow  of  the  Mormon 
theocracy  would  ever  be  accomplished,  some  of 
them  would  no  doubt  come  out  and  join  the  Anti- 
Polygamy  ranks.  But  they  have  no  faith  whatever 
in  Congress,  and  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  very 
little  respect  for  a  Government  that  cannot  or  will 
not  enforce  its  own  laws. 

So  they  go  on,  bearing  their  burdens  as  best  they 
may.  If  they  have  been  in  any  manner  instru- 
mental in  the  husbands'  entering  polygamy,  they  are 
the  more  backward  in  openly  condemning  it.  They 
are  angry  with  themselves,  and  are  often  willing  to 
acknowledge  that  they  have  been  foolish ;  but  they 
will  not  identify  themselves  with  any  movement  for 
the  suppression  of  the  system  that  has  ruined  their 
happiness. 

An  incident  illustrative  of  this  point  came  under 
our  notice  not  long  ago.  We  accidentally  became 
acquainted  with  a  woman  who  told  us  her  story 
frankly.  She  had  once  been  a  fanatical  Mormon; 
and  at  a  time  when  several  of  her  neighbors  were 
taking  plural  wives,  she  urged  her  husband  to 
do  the  same,  in  order  to  give  him  future  exaltation. 

"One  woman,"  she  said,  "as  ignorant  and  super- 
stitious as  myself,  taunted  me  because  my  husband 
did  not  have  any  prospects  of  a  future  kingdom, 
and  so  I  never  gave  him  any  rest  until  he  went  into 
polygamy. 


120  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

"  And  yet  it  was  a  severe  trial  to  me.  When  the 
time  came,  I  had  a  terrible  struggle  with  myself 
before  I  could  go  to  the  Endowment  House  with 
them.  But  I  was  so  infatuated,  or  rather  fanatical, 
that  I  really  thought  I  was  doing  God  service, 
by  subduing  my  own  feelings  and  conquering 
the  flesh,  in  giving  my  husband  to  another,  and 
thus  preparing  a  glorious  future  for  us  both. 

"  I  had  not  been  ignorant  of  the  evil  effects  of  the 
system  in  other  families;  but  when  I  saw  the 
same  things  occurring  in  my  own,  when  I  found 
myself  in  part  supplanted  "by  another  woman,  when 
discord  and  wrangling  began  to  disturb  the  har- 
mony of  the  household,  I  began  to  have  my  doubts 
regarding  the  divinity  of  the  ordinance.  I  soon  felt 
convinced  that  an  institution  which  was  productive 
of  so  much  unhappiness  could  not  be  from  God,  and 
that  no  amount  of  bliss  or  exaltation  in  the  next 
world  could  repay  women  for  the  misery  and  degra- 
dation they  endure  in  this. 

"  And  now,"  she  continued,  "  I  see  my  folly.  The 
money  which  should  go  to  support  my  children, 
is  given  to  the  second  wife,  and  I  am  obliged  to 
work  hard  from  morning  till  night,  and  sometimes 
until  nearly  morning  again,  to  provide  neceasaries  for 
them.  My  husband  is  a  good  man,  but  of  course  he 
must  also  do  something  for  his  other  family ;  and  how 
can  a  laboring  man  support  so  many  in  any  kind  of 
comfort?  Yes,  I  have  seen  the  evils  of  polygamy, 
and  almost  wish  I  had  buried  my  husband  before  he 
entered  it." 


STILL  IN  THE  TOILS.  121 

"If  you  do  not  now  believe  in  it  as  a  religious 
principle,  why  are  you  not  honest?  Why  not  come 
out  openly  and  join  the  Anti-Polygamy  Movement? " 
we  inquired. 

"Because,"  she  answered,  "I  caused  my  husband 
to  go  into  it,  and  I  must  now  bear  the  conse- 
quences of  my  own  folly.  If  I  should  do  anything 
of  that  kind,  he  would  leave  me  entirely,  for  he  is 
still  a  good  Mormon,  and  for  that,  so  am  I.  Though 
he  is  in  polygamy,  he  is  the  husband  of  my  youth, 
and  I  love  him  yet,  for  he  is  as  good  as  any  man 
could  be  under  the  circumstances.  It  was  my  fault 
that  both  of  our  lives  have  been  in  a  measure  ruined, 
and  I  will  bear  the  consequences  to  the  end,  or  until 
the  United  States  Government  will  make  provision 
for  women  to  come  out  of  polygamy  peaceably  and 
honorably." 

Now,  here  was  a  woman  who  hated  polygamy, 
was  fully  conscious  of  all  its  evils,  did  not  believe  in 
it  as  a  religious  ordinance,  and  yet  could  not  under 
any  circumstances  be  induced  to  join  the  movement 
for  its  suppression.  And  this  woman  is  only  one  of 
thousands  in  Utah,  whose  very  existence  is  torture, 
and  to  whom  eternity  means  only  a  continuation  of 
that  tyranny  and  suffering  which  has  already 
crushed  the  womanhood  out  of  them. 

Can  any  woman,  loving  and  beloved,  in  the 
shelter  of  a  pure  uncontaminated  home,  read  the  fol- 
lowing narrative  of  a  first  wife,  and  not  lift  up  her 
voice  in  denunciation  of  that  terrible  demon  which 
crushes  women's  hearts  beneath  its  iron  heel,   and 


122  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

then  laughs  at  the  despairing  agony  of  their  tor- 
tured souls?  Can  any  Christian  woman,  who  be- 
lieves in  the  truth  of  the  sentence,  "God  is  Love," 
read  the  ensuing  pages  and  not  realize  that  she  is 
personally  called  upon  to  use  all  her  influence  for 
the  extermination  of  a  monster  that  permits  such 
atrocities  to  be  perpetrated  in  the  name  of  God  and 
Religion? — 

"I  should  like  to  tell,  through  your  pages,  the  sad 
story  of  my  life,  if  you  will  permit  me  to  do  so 
without  betraying  my  identity.  I  do  not  wish  to 
do  that,  because  I  am  still  "a  Mormon,  at  least  I  am 
bound  to  the  Mormon  church  by  innumerable  ties 
of  kindred,  and  by  the  friendships  and  associations 
of  many  years,  and  at  my  time  of  life  I  should  find 
it  hard  to  break  them.  As  to  my  identity,  I  sup- 
pose it  does  not  much  matter  any  way,  for  it  may 
be  merged  in  that  of  hundreds  of  other  Mormon 
women  in  Utah,  whose  history  is  perhaps  even  more 
pitiable  than  mine,  who,  though  their  hearts  are 
broken,  still  live  on. 

"  More  than  twenty-five  years  ago,  when  I  was  a 
bright-eyed,  round- cheeked  girl  of  eighteen,  I  gave 
my  hand  in  marriage  to  the  only  man  I  ever  loved. 
All !  if  I  could  only  then  have  looked  down  the  long 
vista  of  troubled  years  to  the  cruel  end !  But  I 
could  not ;  what  young  girl  can,  as  she  stands  upon 
the  threshold  of  that  awful  mystery  which  mar- 
riage makes  a  reality? 

"For  more  than  twenty  years  I  bore  the  burden 
of  motherhood.     The  little  ones  came  thick  and  fast, 


STILL  IN  THE  TOILS.  123 

but,  with  a  patience  that  love  makes  possible,  I  bore 
the  oft-repeated  pangs  of  maternity,  and  as  I  laid 
each  new-born  baby  in  my  husband's  arms,  and  saw 
his  smile  of  pleasure  that  another  jewel  had  been 
added  to  his  crown,  I  thanked  my  God  that  I  could 
thus  give  evidence  of  the  love  I  bore  him.  From 
out  the  very  depths  of  unearthly  agony,  I  gave  his 
children  being,  and  then  through  the  long,  tedious 
nights  that  followed  the  birth  of  each  new  life,  I  lay 
with  my  babe  at  my  breast,  nursing  away  my  health 
and  strength,  while  my  husband  slept  peacefully  be- 
side me,  dreamlessly  indifferent  to  my  broken  slum- 
ber and  weary  unrest.  Or  if  he  gave  it  one  thought, 
it  was  to  satisfy  his  conscience  with  the  assurance 
that  'Woman  is  formed  for  the  burdens  she  is  to 
bear.' 

"O  men!  men!  do  you  not  know  that  in  the 
next  life,  at  the  judgment- seat  of  God,  you  must 
answer  for  the  lives  of  the  women  you  have  mur- 
dered through  your  ungoverned  lust,  because  might 
on  the  one  hand,  and  some  form  of  marriage  on  the 
other,  have  made  you  the  masters?  Does  the  reality 
of  a  woman's  life-long  love  and  devotion  weigh 
nothing  against  the  expected  joys  of  a  possible 
heaven  hereafter?  It  seems  not,  in  our  creed  at 
least ;  for  like  Henry  the  Eighth,  the  Mormon  policy 
is,  'Sacrifice  the  mothers  if  it  must  be,  but  give  us 
children.'  Yes,  and  it  might  be  added,  'Give  us 
children  to  grow  up  without  any  home  ties  or  asso- 
ciations, without  any  fatherly  love,  care,  or  tender- 
ness; to  be  nursed  in  sorrow,  reared  in  poverty  and 


124  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

wretchedness;  and  when  they  reach  maturity,  to 
curse  the  parents  who  entailed  upon  them  such  a 
heritage  of  sin  and  misery ! ' 

"Thus,  during  all  these  years,  I  bore  children  to 
my  husband,  watched  over  and  tended  them  in 
infancy  and  illness,  taught  them  to  be  pure  and 
good,  worked  and  toiled  that  house  and  little  ones 
might  be  always  bright  and  sweet  for  my  husband's 
home-coming.  With  a  patient  energy  born  of  love, 
I  struggled  to  make  home  the  fairest  and  dearest 
spot  on  earth  to  which  my  husband's  and  children's 
hearts  should  always  turn  with  a  thrill  of  pride,  and 
a  feeling  of  sweet  restfulness.  Upon  the  altar  of 
his  desires  I  sacrificed  my  will.  I  saw  myself  grow 
worn  and  haggard,  old  before  my  time.  I  saw  the 
roses  fade  from  my  cheeks,  and  the  gold  of  my  hair 
turn  gray ;  and  if,  as  I  watched  these  signs  of  ap- 
proaching unloveliness,  a  fear  crept  into  my  heart,  I 
stifled  it  with  the  ti-ust  that  they  might  only  render 
me  more  dear  to  the  man  in  whose  service  I  had 
received  them. 

"  At  last  the  burden  of  maternity  was  lifted  from 
mv  tired  shoulders;  the  children  were  no  longer  little 
ones,  but  were  fast  approaching  man's  estate  and 
blooming  girlhood,  and  I  felt  I  might  now  begin 
to  enjoy  that  perfect  rest  and  quiet  which  many 
years  of  servitude  and  devotion  had  won  me.  At 
last,  after  the  weariness  and  turmoil,  would  come  the 
sweet  peace  for  which  I  had  so  often  longed,  and 
which  would  now  be  made  doubly  dear  to  me  by  my 
husband's  love  and  tenderness. 


STILL  IN  THE  TOILS.  125 

"  But  alas  for  the  security  of  Mormon  wife- 
hood! The  dark  shadow  which  forever  clouds  our 
lives  with  an  unspoken  fear,  may  at  any  moment 
assume  the  tangible  shape  of  a  demon,  and  shatter  at 
one  blow  all  our  hopes  of  happiness.  And  it  came  to 
me.  At  last  the  fear  was  to  become  for  me  an 
awful,  living  reality. 

"It  came  one  bright  morning  when  I  was 
so  placidly  happy, — when  my  heart  and  life  seemed 
in  accord  with  nature's  sunshine  and  gladness.  I 
was  alone  in  my  cosy  sitting-room ;  it  was  very  quiet 
and  very  pleasant  there.  My  hands  had  dropped 
the  piece  of  sewing  with  which  they  had  been  busy, 
and  lay  idly  folded  on  my  lap;  an  unspoken  prayer 
of  gratitude  was  in  my  heart.  My  trials  were  over, 
my  toil  was  ended;  for  the  strong  arms  of  my 
brave  boys  and  sweet  girls  were  busy  even  then 
lifting  the  burdens.  , ' 

"  The  door  opened  softly,  and  my  husband  came 
in.  Although  always  a  good,  kind  husband,  his 
manner  this  morning  seemed  full  of  unusual  warmth 
and  tenderness.  As  he  sat  down  beside  me  and  took 
my  poor,  worn  hands  in  both  his  own,  he  essayed 
to  talk  with  a  degree  of  cheerfulness  which  he  evi- 
dently did  not  feel;  for  even  as  he  smiled,  a  look 
of  sadness  and  trouble  was  on  his  face,— a  look,  per- 
haps, of  pity  for  the  victim  about  to  be  sacrificed 
upon  the  altar  of  an  unmerciful  faith. 

"  Then  gently,  oh,  so  gently,  he  dealt  the  blow 
which  left,  in  place  of  a  heart,  the  dull,  aching  thing 
I  have  since  carried  in  my  bosom.     1  had  been  to 


126  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

him  a  good  and  faithful  wife,  and  we  had  been  very 
happy  together,  he  said,  but  I  was  no  longer  young. 
I  could  give  him  no  more  children,  and  he  felt  it 
a  duty  which  he  owed  to  God  to  take  another  and  a 
younger  woman,  that  the  measure  of  our  glory  might 
be  full  in  the  celestial  kingdom. 

"Much  more  he  said,  but  the  words  were 
empty  air.  I  felt  only  the  awful,  cruel  reality. 
This  was  the  man  for  whose  sake  agony  had  been 
a  joy,  servitude  a  pleasure,  and  sacrifices  as  nothing. 
This  was  my  reward,  as  it  may  be  the  reward 
of  any  faithful  Mormon  wife;  The  reward  which 
a  hellish,  diabolical  creed  makes  possible. 

"  I  did  not  cry  out,  I  did  not  faint,  I  did  hot  even 
weep  in  the  extremity  of  my  awful  pain.  I  only 
felt  the  consciousness  that  by  one  swift  stroke  of  the 
hand  that  should  have  shielded  me,  my  life-long  love 
was  turned  to  bitter  loathing;  the  fruit  of  a  life's 
devotion  had  turned  to  ashes  on  my  thirsting  lips. 
My  trust  in  a  God  who  could  thus  scourge  me 
was  shaken,  and  my  faith  in  a  creed  that  demanded 
it  was  smitten.  I  was  passive  under  the  blow,  for 
struggle  as  I  might,  it  would  avail  me  nothing. 

"And  then,  the  wish  was  in  his  heart.  Since 
I  could  no  longer  serve  him,  it  was  his  desire  that  I 
should  stand  aside,  and  give  to  a  younger  and 
perhaps  fairer  woman,  my  place  as  sovereign  wife 
and  mother. 

"And  did  not  my  own  and  his  religion  sanction 
his  right  to  make  this  demand,  and  teach  me  to 
obey   it?      I    could  have   rebelled   surely,    but   this 


STILL  IN  THE   TOILS.  127 

would  have  brought  only  discord  and  contention 
to  the  only  dear  onus  left  me  now,  my  children.  My 
burdens  had  been  many,  and  this  last  one,  though 
heavier  than  all,  I  would  hear  in  silence  for  their 
dear  sakes. 

"For  the  completion  of  my  misery  I  had  not  long- 
to  wait.  The  fair  young  wife  was  soon  found 
and  brought  home.  For  her  so  young  and  fair, 
deserving  a  better  fate,  I  wept  the  tears  I  could 
not  weep  for  myself.  Bound  like  me  by  the  fe<  bers 
of  an  unmerciful  creed,  she  had  usurped  in  good  faith 
the  place  of  a  dethroned  wife  and  mother. 

"  '  How  long,  oh,  how  long,  in  this  land  of  boasted 
freedom,  shall  such  things  be  possible?'  is  the  dumb 
cry  wrung  from  many  a  tortured  heart  in  Utah. 
How  long  shall  woman  be  weighed  down  with  fetters 
that  are  forged  by  man's  brutality  and  lust?  How 
Ion"-  shall  woman  be  obliged  to  smother  the  holiest 
instincts  of  womanhood,  and  taught  that  to  degener- 
ate into  mere  child-bearers  is  fulfilling  God's  purpose? 
How  long  shall  a  lustful  and  unscrupulous  priest- 
hood hold  a  rod  of  iron  upon  our  souls  in  the  name 
of  God  and  religion?  Toward  the  noble  men  and 
women  who,  like  yourselves,  are  making  earnest 
efforts  in  our  behalf,  the  hearts  of  hundreds  of  Mor- 
mon wives  go  out  daily  with  a  prayer  of  gratitude 
and  thanksgiving.  Though  our  lips  seem  dumb, 
Ave  give  you  a  silent  God-speed.  Speed,  oh,  speed  the 
day  when  our  chains  are  broken  and  we  are  free! 
Come  soon  as  it  may,  for  such  as  I  it  will  be  too  late; 
but  for  our  pure  unsullied  daughters  we  may  yet 
hope  deliverance  is  possible.'' 


128  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

The  woman  who  penned  the  above  sketch  is  still 
considered  a  good  Mormon.  As  she  says,  it  would  be 
very  difficult  for  her,  at  her  time  of  life,  to  bear  the 
consequences  that  would  inevitably  ensue  if  she 
attempted  to  rebel  against  her  fate.  Her  husband 
would  probably  turn  her  out  of  doors  without  a  dol- 
lar, and.several  of  her  children  are  yet  too  young  to 
care  for  themselves.  The  law  could  not  give  her 
any  redress,  for  since  a  polygamous  legislature,  in 
oider  to  break  down  the  distinction  between  lawful 
wife  and  concubine,  abolished  the  right  of  dower  in 
the  Territory,  a  wife  has  no  claim  whatever  on  the 
estate  of  her  husband,  cither  living  or  dead.  Should 
she  sue  for  a  divorce,  asking  alimony,  he  could 
transfer  every  cent  of  his  property  to  the  second 
wife,  and  swear  he  had  nothing  in  the  world.  Con- 
sequently it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  first 
wives  are  timid  about  openly  condemning  polygamy, 
and  this  particular  case  is  only  one  of  thousands. 

Another  argument  which  is  very  successful  in 
preventing  the  plural  wives  from  coming  out  of 
polygamy,  is  this:  They  are  told  that,  as  the  system 
is  not  legalized  outside  of  the  Mormon  church,  it  is 
regarded  in  the  world  in  the  same  light  as  the  social 
evil,  and  the  plural  wives  are  considered  as  fallen 
women.  What  aid  or  protection  is  ever  extended 
to  women  who  have  once  deviated  from  the  path  of 
virtue,  even  if  they  are  desirous  of  leading  pure  lives 
again?  Leave  the  church  if  you  please,  but  of 
course  you  cannot  expect  the  Saints  to  recognize 
apostates,  and  you  need  not  think  or  hope  that  the 


STILL   IN   THE   TOILS.  [29 

Gentiles  will  associate  with  women  whom  they  deem 
no  better  than  prostitutes.  One  single  incident  will 
illustrate  with  what  success  this  argument  is  em- 
ployed. 

A  certain  prominent  Mormon  married  for  his  third 
wife  a  young  girl  of  sixteen  who  had  been  born  and 
brought  up  in  Mormonism.  She  was  just  an  inno- 
cent child,  and  entered  polygamy  with  the  purest  of 
motives,  fully  believing  that  she  was  doing  (I.,. I 
service,  and  securing  her  own  future  happiness. 
But  after  seeing  the  inner  workings  of  the  system, 
and  experiencing  its  horrors  for  a  few  years,  she 
became  convinced  that  instead  of  being  from  God, 
it  was  only  a  device  of  man  to  pander  to  Ins  own 
base  passions.  So  she  determined  to  leave  her  hus- 
band. She  told  him  her  convictions,  and  said:  "  It 
would  be  sin  for  me  to  live  with  you  any  longer,  for 
I  do  not  now  believe  in  polygamy  as  a  religion- 
principle.  I  am  willing  to  work  for  my  own  living; 
but  cannot  you,  out  of  your  abundance,  do  some- 
thing for  the  support  of  your  and  my  children  '.  He 
absolutely  refused  to  settle  anything  upon  the  little 
ones,  or  give  her  anything  for  their  support.  Being 
a  determined  and  plucky  woman,  she  thought  she 
would  try  to  compel  him  to  do  what  was  only 
right  and  just  in  the  matter.  So  she  went  to  one 
of  the  heads  of  the  church,  and  laid  the  case  before 
him.  It  was  rather  a  bold  step  for  a  woman  to 
tell  a  Mormon  high-priest  that  she  disbelieved  in 
polygamy,  but  she  was  a  woman  who  would  dare 
anything  for  the  sake  of  her  children.     He  listened 

9 


130  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

to  her  story,  then  Looked  her  full  in  the  face  and 
said:  "Sister  H.,  you  know  that,  in  the  church, 
you  arc  a  wife,  honored  and  respected,  and  your 
children  are  perfectly  legitimate.  Outside  of  it,  you 
will  be  nothing  bat  a  common  woman.  A  Latter- 
day  Saint  could  not  conscientiously  contribute  to 
the  support  of  the  children  of  a  prostitute.  Do  you 
not  think  you  had  better  remain  where  you  are?" 

It  may  easily  be  perceived  that  this  mode  of  rea- 
soning exerts  a  great  influence  over  women  who 
have  not  the  courage  to  face  the  world  as  "those 
who  have  been  living  in  sin."  This  statement,  how- 
ever, is  a  little  exaggerated  by  the  Mormons,  for  not 
all  the  Gentiles,  by  any  means,  regard  the  polyga- 
mous wives  as  fallen  women.  Still,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  there  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  it,  and 
that  outsiders,  as  a  rule,  look  upon  this  class  of 
women  as  very  much  their  inferiors  socially.  So 
they  say  to  themselves,  We  had  better  stay  in  the 
church,  where  we  are  regarded  as  wives,  than  come 
out  of  it,  and  be  treated  as  common  women, — we 
and  our  children  thrown  on  the  world,  helpless  and 
despised.  If  there  was  a  law,  legalizing  the  offspring 
of  plural  wives,  and  compelling  the  husband  to  pro- 
vide for  them  in  accordance  with  his  means,  we 
believe  hundreds  of  plural  women  would  not  live 
another  day  in  polygamy. 


CHAPTER    XL 

l|mmfcpsm+ 

Degradation  of  the  Fanatics. — Joseph  Smith's  Holiness. — Brig- 
ham  Young's  Opinion  of  Joseph. — Mormonism  Justifies  Lying 
for  the  Truth. — No  Cross,  no  Crown. — One  Man  the  Husband 
of  Three  Generations. — The  Mormon  Elder  and  His  Wives. — 
Advice  of  a  Mormon  Woman. 

P-n^rffTrx_a.Q 

[jUJjHE  third  class  of  the  women  of  Mormonism, 
those  who  believe,  or  pretend  they  believe, 
in  polygamy  as  a  divine  ordinance,  are  the 
most  degraded  of  all  the  women  of  Mor- 
monism. This  class  may  be  divided  into 
fanatics  and  hypocrites. 
The  fanatics  are  degraded,  because  they  sacrifice 
reason,  modesty,  happiness,  and  all  a  true  woman 
holds  dear,  to  a  false  principle.  Of  course,  the 
majority  of  these  are  totally  uneducated,  and  mostly 
from  the  lower  walks  of  European  society,  but  one 
meets  occasionally  among  them  a  woman  whose 
birth  and  early  training  should  have  rendered  her 
proof  against  such  superstition  and  bigotry. 

If  you  try  to  reason  with  them,  and  talk  to  them 
of  the  unhappiness  existing  in  polygamy,  and  its 
evil  effects,  they  will  answer  you  that  the  flesh  must 
be  mortified,  and  the  more  a  woman  sacrifices  in  this 
world,  the  greater  will  be  her  reward  in  the  next. 

(131) 


132  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

It  is  hard  for  a  woman  to  share  the  affections  of  her 
husband  with  others,  they  will  admit,  but  they  will 
add  that  it  is  only  for  a  little  time,  and  the  glory 
she  will  obtain  in  the  hereafter  will  compensate  her 
a  thousand-fold  for  the  trials  she  has  endured  in 
this  life. 

In  regard  to  the  many  evils  of  polygamous  life, 
and  the  utter  wretchedness  and  misery  which 
invariably  accompany  it,  they  will  tell  you  that 
these  things  exist  because  the  divine  principle  is  not 
carried  out  as  God  intended  it  should  be.  If 
polygamy  is  practiced  properly,  there  is  no  need  of 
unhappiness;  but  should  a  principle  be  condemned 
becaus'e  some  people  do  not  understand  it,  or  know 
how  to  carry  it  out  in  a  proper  manner? 

A  husband  should  certainly  treat  all  his  wives 
alike,  and  not  show  any  favoritism,  and  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  wives  to  bear  and  forbear  with  each 
other.  But  if  they  fail  to  do  this,  is  that  a  com- 
petent argument  against  the  fact  that  God  revealed 
the  principles  of  polygamy  to  Joseph  Smith?  If 
men  and  women  are  weak  or  rebellious,  and  fail  to 
do  God's  will,  is  that  to  prove  that  he  has  never  re- 
vealed his  will  to  men? 

If  you  attempt  to  question  the  authority  of  Joseph 
Smith  as  a  prophet,  or  venture  to  intimate  that  he 
was  not  the  kind  of  person  whom  a  pure  and  holy 
God  would  choose  as  a  medium  by  which  to  reveal 
his  will  to  men,  you  will  be  indignantly  assured  that 
Joseph  was  a  God-like  character  himself,  notwith- 
standing a  mass  of  indisputable  facts  existing  to  the 
contrary. 


FANATICISM.  133 

We  heard  one  of  these  women  assert,  and  slic  was 
apparently  honest  in  her  convictions,  that  all  the 
reports  about  Joseph's  immorality  were  fabricated  by 
his  enemies,  that  his  life  was  as  pure  as  that  of 
Christ  Jesus,  ami  she  added  pathetically,  "  Jesus  was 
crucified  on  Calvary,  and  Joseph  was  martyred  at 
Carthage." 

Not  without  a  little  hesitation,  we  inquired,  "  Do 
you  consider  that  Brig-ham  Young  was  also  a 
prophet  of  the  Lord?" 

"  Yes,  certainly,"  was  the  immediate  reply.  "  The 
mantle  of  Joseph  descended  on  hrother  Brigham." 

"  Then  how  do  you  account  for  the  very  poor 
opinion  entertained  by  Brigham  of  his  predecessor? 
We  have  read  in  one  of  his  published  sermons 
reported  by  your  own  church  stenographer,  a  state- 
ment to  the  effect  that 'Joseph  was  anything  but  a 
saint;  that  his  virtues  were  few,  his  vices  many, 
among  the  least  of  which  were  gambling,  drinking, 
horse-racing,  and  seducing  women.'" 

Of  course,  she  could  not  give  a  satisfactory  reply, 
as  she.  could  not  reconcile  the  statement  of  Brigham 
Young  with  her  own  belief  in  the  purity  of  Joseph 
Smith,  neither  did  she  wish  to  admit  that  she  had 
any  doubts  of  Brigham's  veracity.  So  she  quickly 
changed  the  subject,  saying,  "Let  us  talk  of  some- 
thing else.  You  outsiders  cannot  comprehend  the 
depths  of  our  religion,  and  if  you  could,  you  are 
too  prejudiced  to  do  it  justice,  or  judge  it  fairly." 

This  woman  had  been  born  and  bred  in  New 
England,  and  had  received  a  fair  education ;  but  sin- 


134  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

was  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  truth  of  Mor- 
monism  and  polygamy,  and  so  blindly,  fanatically 
attached  to  them,  that  she  frequently  declared  she 
would  willingly  die  for  them. 

At  another  time  we  said  to  her,  "  Why  have  your 
leading  and  representative  Mormons  on  certain 
occasions  denied  the  existence  of  polygamy?  Why 
did  John  Taylor,  and  even  Joseph  Smith  himself, 
deny  it?  If,  as  you  assert,  your  religion  requires 
a  sacrifice  of  all  things,  even  to  life  itself,  and 
polygamy  is  an  essential  part  of  that  religion,  why 
did  not  these  and  others  die,  if  need  be,  in  openly  de- 
fending it,  instead  of  cowardly  denying  it  in  order 
to  shield  their  craven  heads?  " 

"  But  our  religion  teaches  us  that  it  is  justifiable, 
under  certain  circumstances,  to  lie  for  the  truth." 
was  the  ready  answer. 

"  Lie  for  the  truth !  Does  not  that  idea  strike 
you  as  being  rather  absurd?  "  we  asked. 

"Not  absurd  at  all.  There  are  numerous  in- 
stances in  the  Bible  where  deception,  and  if  necessary, 
even  out-and-out  falsifying,  were  practiced  and  ap- 
parently approved.  We  Mormons  believe  the  Bible, 
and  our  faith  is  founded  upon  that  book.  Search 
the  Scriptures,  and  you  find  them  full  of  Mormon- 
ism,  including  our  doctrine  of  celestial  marriage, 
which  you  Gentiles  term  polygamy." 

It  is  entirely  useless  to  try  to  reason  with  these 
women,  to  endeavor  to  convince  them  that  they  are 
liable  to  misinterpret  sacred  writ,  for  they  claim  to 
have  received  through  Joseph  Smith  the.  gospel  in  all 


FANATICISM.  135 

its  fullness,  by  which  it  is  impossible  to  err.  If,  for 
the  sake  of  argument,  you  grant  that  polygamy 
may  have  been  practiced  by  the  ancient  Israelites 
by  God's  sanction,  but  attempt  to  show  them  that 
the  system  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  civilization 
of  our  day,  and  that  its  evil  effects  are  sufficient, 
condemnation  of  its  practice,  they  will  still  assert 
that  the  principle  is  a  divine  one. 

They  are  willing  to  admit  that  polygamy  has  its 
sorrows  and  evils.  They  even  acknowledge  that 
some  men  enter  it  from  wrong  motives,  from  lust 
instead  of  religion.  But  they  insist  that  all  the 
misery  is  produced  by  a  wrong  mode  of  practice; 
and  they  are  too  ignorant  or  too  bigoted  to  see  that 
the  system  itself  is  responsible  for  all  its  effects. 

The  entire  burden  of  their  soim-  is,  that  the  cross 
must  be  borne  in  order  that  the  crown  may  be  won. 
Is  it  not  enough  to  make  a  woman  almost  ashamed 
of  herself  to  see  so  many  of  them  deliberately 
rejecting  the  pure  teachings  of  Christ,  and  holding 
with  so  much  tenacity  to  the  degrading  doctrines  of 
a  loose,  immoral,  soi  disant  prophet,  of  whom  even 
his  best  friends  were  compelled  to  admit  that  he 
was  a  rake  and  a  libertine  ? 

Numberless  illustrations  of  the  bigotry  and  fanat- 
icism of  this  class  of  women  might  be  given,  but  a 
few  incidents  will  be  sufficient.  Our  readers  may 
think  some  of  them  exaggerated,  for  it  is  difficult  to 
even  imagine  that  women  who  are  wives  and 
mothers  can  sink  to  such  depths  of  depravity, 
through  blind  devotion  to  a  false  doctrine. 


136  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

The  following  was  related  by  the  wife  of  a  noted 
United  States  explorer  to  a  Gentile  lady  of  Salt 
Lake  City,  who  will  vouch  for  its  genuineness. 
There  are  cases  well  known  in  the  annals  of  polyg- 
amy where  three  generations  of  women  have  been 
married  to  one  man;  but  we  trust,  for  the  credit 
of  our  sex,  that  the  circumstances  attending  the 
marriages  have  been  different  from  those  in  the 
instance  under  consideration. 

"  While  traveling  in  Southern  Utah,  we  came  to 
a  small  settlement  where  we  were  detained  a  day  or 
two  by  inclement  weather.  We  found  shelter  in 
the  humble  but  neat  and  hospitable  home  of  a 
monogamist  Saint,  whose  family  hated -polygamy, 
and  through  whose  influence  we  were  permitted  a 
glance  at  some  of  the  beastliness  that  characterizes 
the  peculiar  institution. 

"  Only  a  short  distance  from  the  dwelling  of  1113^ 
friendly  entertainers,  there  stood  a  miserable  adobe 
hut,  I  could  not  conscientiously  call  it  a  house, 
where  lived  a  Saint  with  three  wives,  all  of  whom 
had  families.  My  hostess  made  some  neighborly 
errand  an  excuse  for  paying  them  a  visit,  and  per- 
mitted me  to  accompany  her;  but  before  going  she 
made  me  acquainted  with  the  relationship  existing 
between  the  three  women  who  were  living  with, 
and  had  borne  children  to,  the  same  man. 

"The  first  and  second  women  were  sisters,  and 
the  latter  had  been  a  widow  with  one  child  when 
she  married  her  sister's  husband.  When  this  child 
had  grown  to  be  about  sixteen   years  old,  her  step- 


FANATICISM.  137 

father  had  also  married  her,  but  not  succeeding  in 
winning  the  husband  entirely  away  from  her  mother 
and  aunt,  she  left  and  became  sealed  to  another  man 
as  plural  wife.  She  had  two  children  by  him ;  then 
he  died,  and  she  returned  to  her  first  husband 
bringing  her  children  with  her,  the  eldest  of  whom  at 
the  time  I  am  speaking  of,  was  a  girl  about  fifteen 
years  old,  and  my  informant  stated  for  a  fact,  that 
the  old  wretch  had  thoughts  of  marrying  her  too. 

"  When  we  entered  the  hut,  the  scene  that  met 
my  eyes  totally  beggars  description.  Imagine  one 
low,  smoky,  filthy  room  serving  as  living  room 
and  sleeping  apartment  for  three  women  and  their 
offspring,  some  of  the  latter  almost  grown  up,  the 
majority,  however,  being  little  children.  I  could 
never  have  even  dreamed  of  such  dirt,  rags,  and 
Squalor  existing  in  a  Christian  country.  I  had  seen 
nothing  equal  to  it  among  the  Digger  Indians;  in 
fact,  the  latter  were  quite  civilized  in  comparison. 

'"But  the  worst  of  my  story  is  yet  to  come.  The 
young  girl  of  whom  my  hostess  had  spoken  as  a 
probable  bride  of  her  grandfather,  was  sitting  in  a 
corner  sobbing  and  crying  bitterly.  Upon  inquiring 
the  cause  of  her  distress,  we  were  told  quite  frankly 
that  her  grandmother  had  given  her  a  severe  casti- 
gation  for  speaking  disrespectfully  of  polygamy, 
and  declaring  that  she  would  never  become  the  wife 
of  her  mother's  and  grandmother's  husband. 

"After  we  left  the  house,  I  could  not  restrain  my 
indignation,  and  I  said,  'What  a  lovely  religion  this 
is,  to  make  such  beasts  out  of  human  creatures!' 


138  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

"'It  is  not  religion,  but  the  lack  of  it,  that  makes 
them  beasts,'  quietly  rejoined  my  hostess,  'ami  you 
will  find  many  cases  as  bad  as  this  one  if  you  travel 
far  in  Utah.  There  is  a  man  in  this  very  settlement 
who  has  for  plural  wives  his  own  half-sister  and  her 
mother,  and  their  house  has  only  two  small  rooms.' 
As  my  friend  had  predicted,  I  found  more  families 
like  these  as  we  traveled  farther  south.  No  one 
who  has  not  been  through  the  country  can  form 
the  slightest  idea  of  the  degradation  existing  among 
the  people  of  Southern  Utah. 

"But  the  sequel  to  this  'o'er  true  tale'  is  still 
more  horrible.  I  hesitate  to  tell  it,  and  only  do  so 
to  show  how  Mormonism  blunts  the  moral  sense  of 
its  votaries.  About  a  year  afterward,  we  had 
occasion  to  pass  through  that  settlement  again,  and 
for  a  day  we  were  guests  of  our  former  hostess. 
She  told  me  that  the  young  girl  was  really  sealed  to 
her  grandfather,  being  literally  forced  into  it  by  her 
own  mother  and  grandmother,  tinder  circumstances 
so  revolting  that  delicacy  would  not  allow  me  to  re- 
peat them,  even  to  one  of  my  own  sex. 

"  The  grandmother  was  determined  that  the  child 
should  become  a  polygamic  wife  in  order  to  save  her 
soul,  and  excused  her  conduct  by  saying  that  she 
would  not  like  to  see  her  own  flesh  and  blood  go  to 
perdition,  that  brother  B.  was  as  good  a  husband  as 
she  would  be  likely  to  find,  and  it  was  better 
for  her  to  marry  among  her  own  family  than  to 
go  among  strangers. 

"Even  in  that  polygamic  community,  the  excite- 


FANATICISM.  LS9 

ment  was  so  great  that  there  was  talk  of  lynching 
the  degraded  trio,  the  man  and  the  two  elder 
women ;  but  the  f eeling  soon  passed  over,  and  was 
eventually  forgotten,  or  only  remembered  as  an 
episode  of  the  'peculiar  institution.'" 

Another  incident,  which  is  too  well  known  to 
hundreds  of  persons  in  Utah  for  any  one  to  attempt 
its  contradiction,  will  illustrate  this  astounding 
fanaticism  which  is  so  characteristic  of  this  class  of 

women. 

A  certain  elder  was  sent  to  England  to  have 
charge  of  the  British  Conference  of  Latter-day 
Saints,  and  though  he  left  two  wives  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  yet  this  trifling  fact  did  not  prevent  him  from 
paying  devoted  attention  to  a  number  of  young 
o-irls.  It  seems  he  had  obtained  permission  from 
Brighain  Young  to  marry  while  he  was  abroad,  but 
at  the  same  time  he  was  instructed  to  represent  him- 
self as  a  single  man,  so  as  not  to  become  liable  for 
bigamy  under  English  law,  in  case  he  should  find  a 
new  affinity. 

In  a  very  short  time,  he  married  a  young  English 
girl,  and  he  informed  his  wives  in  Utah  of  the 
event,  taking  good  care  however  to  conceal  from  Ins 
new  wife  the  existence  of  the  two  other  Mrs.  C.'s  in 
Utah.  These  received  the  tidings  with  resignation, 
for  they  expected  nothing  different,  and  were  conse- 
quently prepared  for  it.  They  had  seen  too  many 
missionaries  make  additions  to  their  kingdom  in  the 
same  manner  to  be  in  the  least  surprised  to  hear 
that  their  husband  had  gone  and  done  likewise. 


]40  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONLSM. 

When  this  good  elder  had  been  married  about 
two  years  to  this  English  girl,  his  first  wife  went  to 
the  Eastern  States  on  a  visit  to  her  relatives.  Her 
In  i l!:h  was  exceedingly  impaired, — the  result  of 
mental  suffering,  though  she  would  not  own  it,  even 
to  herself, — and  she  was  recommended  to  take  a  sea 
voyage,  whereupon  she  immediately  wrote  to  her 
husband,  asking  permission  to  join  him  in  Liverpool, 
where  he  was  then  stationed. 

He  accorded  her  the  desired  permission  upon  one 
condition,  that  she  would  temporarily  abrogate  her 
rights  as  a  wife,  and  allow  herself  to  pass  as  his 
sister.  He  was  willing  to  give  her  the  benefit  of  the 
change  in  climate,  but  he  stipulated  in  return  that 
she  should  shield  him  from  the  consequences  of  his 
transgression,  if  his  English  wife  should  by  any 
menus  become  possessed  of  the  truth,  she  would  un- 
doubtedly hand  him  over  to  the;  officers  of  the  law. 
and  thus  avenge  her  wrongs.  We  venture  to  assert 
that  not  one  wife  in  ten  thousand  would  have 
entered  into  so  degrading  a  compact,  but  she  was  so 
anxious  to  bike  the  voyage  on  account  of  her  failing 
heftlth,  that  she  agreed  to  do  as  he  desired. 

On  her  arrival  in  Liverpool,  she  found  that  her 
husband  was  so  infatuated  with  his  new  love,  that 
he  scarcely  noticed  her  at  all,  and  many  were  the 
comments  of  the  Saints  at  his  indifference  to,  and 

neglect  of,    the    "sister"    who   had    come   such  a  dis- 

tance  across  the  ocean  to  visit  her  brother.  The 
pool-  woman  was  almost  bowed  to  the  earth  with 
grief,    and    she   soon    regretted    having    taken    the 


FANATICISM.  141 

journey;  but  there  was  no  way  of  escape  from  the 
trial.  She  had  no  means  of  returning  until  her 
husband's  mission  was  ended,  which  would  not  be 
for  two  years  at  the  least. 

Our  saintly  elder,  almost  entirely  ignoring  the  ex- 
istence of  his  legal  wife,  traveled  all  over  Europe 
with  his  English  bride,  introducing  her  everywhere 
as  Mrs.  C,  while  the  poor  "sister"  remained  in 
Liverpool,  dependent  upon  the  bounty  of  the  char- 
itable Saints.  The  despised  and  neglected  wife 
had  not  even  been  supplied  by  him  with  the  merest 
necessaries  of  life,  but  every  luxury  of  dress  and 
adornment  was  lavished  upon  the  concubine. 

But  notwithstanding  all  the  neglect  she  expe- 
rienced, and  the  cruel  treatment  she  endured,  though 
she  had  lost  both  love  for  and  faith  in  her  husband, 
yet  her  devotion  and  loyalty  to  her  religion  never 
wavered  one  particle. 

"You  would  not  have  found  me  enduring  such 
treatment,"  remarked  a  friend  to  her,  after  she  had 
returned  to  Utah  and  the  facts  had  become  known. 
"I  would  not  have  lived  in  poverty  and  seclusion, 
and  known  that  he  was  running  round  the  country 
with  her,  squandering  money  on  her  as  if  she  had 
been  a  princess, — money,  too,  that  was  squeezed  out 
of  the  poor  deluded  Saints.  I  would  soon  have 
had  him  landed  in  Old  Bailey." 

"I  could  have  done  that,  I  suppose,"  responded 
the  poor,  heart-broken  wife,  "but  it  would  not 
have  availed  me  anything,  and  it  would  have 
brought  so   much  discredit  and  scandal  upon  the 


142  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

church.  I  was  tempted  more  than  once  to  take 
such  a  step,  but  was  always  restrained  by  the 
thought  that  my  religion  required  me  to  sacrifice 
everything  for  its  sake,  even  to  life  itself.  There 
can  be  no  denying  the  fact  that  polygamy  is  a 
dreadful  ordeal,  and  involves  the  most  terrible  sacri- 
fices;  but,  'No  cross,  no  crown.'" 

We  never  hear  the  word  "cross"  employed  in 
Utah  without  wishing  that  we  had  the  tongue  of  an 
angel,  and  could  proclaim  to  these  poor  misguided 
creatures  the  Cross  that  was  borne  and  raised  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world.  But,  alas!  their  infatua- 
tion is  so  deep  seated  that  wo  fear  they  would  not 
believe,  even  if  "  one  from  the  dead  "  should  come  to 
them.  Truly,  if,  as  Mrs.  Browning  says,  "Earth's 
fanatics  make  heaven's  saints,"  these  women  will 
not  go  without  their  dearly  won  reward. 

One  more  illustration  of  this  fanaticism  before 
passing  to  the  hypocrites  of  Mormonism. 

A  certain  good  Mormon,  whose  intelligent,  lovely, 
and  exemplary  wife  had  exercised  her  influence 
successfully  in  keeping  him  out  of  polygamy  for  a 
number  of  years,  at  last  came  to  the  determination 
that  he  must  live  his  religion.  The  poor  wife,  who 
was  to  have  the  sanctity  of  her  home  thus  invaded, 
went  to  a  certain  representative  woman  in  the 
church  for  .sympathy  in  that  sorrow  which  to  her 
was  far  worse  than  death. 

This  woman  is  perfectly  insane  on  the  subject  of 
polygamy,  though  otherwise  said  to  be  amiable  and 
intelligent.     She  listened  to  the  poor  wife's  tale  of 


FANATICISM. 


143 


woe,  condoled  with  her,  said  she  presumed  it  was 

hard  to  give  up  her  husband,  or  share  his  affections 
with  another,  but  reminded  her  that  it  was  for  his 
future  exaltation,  and  urged  her  to  bear  the  cros3 
bravely,  and  she  should  be  duly  rewarded. 

"Oh,  I  cannot  bear  it,"  wailed  the  poor  grief- 
stricken  wife.  ' '  We  have  been  so  happy  together.  1 
shall  die  if  he  takes  another.  I  cannot  live  and 
have  another  woman  come  between  us." 

"Die,  then,"  responded  the  female  apostle  of 
polygamy.  "  There  are  hundreds  of  better  women 
than  you  lying  up  in  that  graveyard,  who  have 
died  from  the  same  cause  V 

Women  of  America,  do  not  the  words  of  this 
votary  of  polygamy  prove  that  the  cruel  system  is  a 
foe  to  every  household  in  the  land? 


CHAPTER    XII 

Remarkable  Statement. — Polygamy  Instilled  into  the  Young. — 
Apostates  Become  Infidels  or  Spiritualists. — No  Sympathy  for 
the  Tools.--A  Young  Girl's  Statement. — Attempts  to  Keep  a 
Young  Lady  from  Apostatizing. — Corruption  Fund. — Woman 
to   the   Rescue. 

^3 HE  very  worst  class  of  women  of " Mormon- 
isni,  and  those  who  do  the  most  injury,  are 
the  hypocrites, — women  who  are  too  intelli- 
gent to  believe  that  there  ever  was  a  revela- 
tion on  polygamy,  and  who  cannot  close 
their  eyes  to  the  evil  effects  of  the  system. 
Some  of  these  women  were  brought  into  Mormon- 
ism  at  an  early  age  by  their  parents.  Others  were 
born  in  it,  and  in  some  cases  were  forced  by  circum- 
stances to  marry  in  polygamy.  They  are  degraded ; 
and  being  themselves  shameless,  they  are  continually 
endeavoring  to  drag  others  down  to  their  own 
level. 

It  may  perhaps  seem  a  very  harsh  and  unchari- 
table judgment  to  say  that  the  earth  holds  no  viler  of 
their  sex  than  some  of  these  women,  but  it  is,  never- 
theless, only  too  true. 

A  young  girl  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the 
polygamous  household  of  one  of  the  highest  Mormon 

(144) 


Vf^ 


Hon.   JAMES  B.  McKEAN, 

Late  Chief  Justice  of  Utah. 


TOOLS  OF  THE  PRIESTHOOD.  115 

dignitaries,  and  who  was  familiar  with  the  domestic 
Life  of  all  the  principal  apostles,  and  who  knew  cer- 
tain of  these  women  thoroughly  and  the  part  they 
were  constantly  playing  in  the  polygamous  tragedy, 
made  these  remarks  in  regard  to  them:  "lean 
only  compare  these  women  to  those  dreadful  char- 
acters that  thru  say  exist  in  the  outside  world, 
and  whose  business  it  is  to  lure  young  girls  to 
destruction.  They  are  nothing  but  tools  of  the 
priesthood;  and  while  professing  to  be  working  for 
theelevation  of  womenjhey  are  in  reality  doing 
.milling  but  seeking  for  new  victims  to  gratify  the 
hose  passions  of  their  infamous  'masters" 

We  have  before  alluded  to  an  organization  of 
women  which  exists  in  this  Territory  under  the 
name  of  the  "Female  Relief  Society."  This  asso- 
ciation was  not  formed  for  the  purpose  of  relieving 
the  poor  and  needy;  for  do  not  all  the  Mormon 
emissaries  abroad,  declare  that  there  are  no  paupers 
in  Zion,  no  poverty  or  misery  among  this  indus- 
trious, thrifty,  and  godly  people?  But  it  will  be 
seen  that  there  were  other  and  more  potent  reasons 
for  the  existence  of  these  Societies. 

None  understand  better  than  the  Mormon  auto- 
crats the  importance  of  thorough  and  perfect  organ- 
ization. It  is  by  means  of  their  organization  that 
such  a  complete  system  of  espionage  is  kept  over  the 
Mormon  people,  and  the  policy  of  the  church  so 
rigidly  enf<  ircei  I.  It  is  this  complete  i  nganization  that 
has  made  the  Mormon  power  as  "absolute  a  despot- 
ism over  its  own  people  as  ever  existed  upon  earth." 

10 


140  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

The  "Relief  Society"  was  organized  by  the  com- 
mand of  the  head  of  the  Mormon  church,  and  a 
branch  exists  in  every  settlement  throughout  Utah, 
no  matter  how  small  or  remote.  We  are  told  by 
Mormons  that  it  also  extends  into  all  surrounding 
Territories.  This  Society  has  two  principal  objects, 
the  propagation  of  polygamy,  and  the  gathering  of 
tithes  for  replenishing  the  church  treasury,  especially 
for  the  purpose  of  corrupting  members  of  Congress, 
and  subsidizing  the  national  press. 

At  the  meetings  of  these  Societies,  which  arc  held 
regularly,  the  main  topics 'of  discussion, — for  they 
make  a  show  of  free  thought  and  free  speech, — are 
the  principles  of  polygamy,  subservience  to  hus- 
bands, and  implicit  obedience  to  the  holy  priesthood. 

Does  any  person  ask  why  polygamy  is  on  the 
increase  to-day  in  Utah,  notwithstanding  the  coun- 
teracting influences  brought  to  bear  against  it  by 
the  establishment  of  Christian  churches  and  schools, 
and  why  young  and  ignorant  girls  are  every  day 
entering  into  the  unlawful  relation?  The  reason  is 
obvious:  Because  this  female  organization  is  con- 
stantly at  work,  carrying  out  the  plans  of  a  licen- 
tious and  tyrannical  priesthood. 

The  young  girls  are  brought  to  these  meetings 
every  week,  and  the  principles  of  polygamy 
thoroughly  and  systematically  inculcated.  With 
such  a  belief  impressed  upon  the  plastic  hearts  and 
minds  of  children,  what  is  the  natural  result  .' 
When  they  are  fourteen*  or  sixteen  years  of  age. 
and  are  told  that  they  must  be   sealed  to  brother 


TOOLS  OF  THE  PRIESTHOOD.  147 

So-and-So,  and  that  thus  their  eternal  happiness 
and  glory  will  be  assured,  they  go  to  the  Endow- 
ment House  and  become  the  plural  wives  of  the 
brothers  selected,  almost  without  hesitation. 

If  they  stop  to  think  or  reason  at  all,  it  will  be  in 
this  wise:  "Polygamy  must  be  right.  We  are 
taught  that  it  is.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  unhappi- 
ness  in  it,  but  if  our  religion  is  worth  anything  at 
all,  it  is  worth  making  sacrifices  for." 

Others  again  will  say  to  themselves,  "We  may  as 
well  marry  in  polygamy,  for  we  shall  have  to  live  in 
it  any  way.  If  we  become  first  wives,  our  hus- 
bands will  be  sure  to  take  others  after  awhile;  and 
as  plural  ones,  we  stand  as  good  a  chance  of  com- 
fort in  this  world,  and  we  shall  be  better  off  in  the 
next."  And  so  the  young  girl  will  take  a  step  that 
not  only  ruins  her  happiness  on  earth,  but  too  fre- 
quently causes  her  to  lose  faith  in  both  God  and 
man. 

The  majority  of  people  who  leave  the  Mormon 
church,  become  either  spiritualists  or  infidels.  And 
it  is  not  strange  that  they  do.  They  have  seen  such 
atrocities  committed  in  the  name  of  God  and  religion, 
that  when  once  free  from  Mormon  trammels,  they 
appear  to  hate  their  very  names.  "Don't  talk  to  us 
of  God  or  religion,"  is  a  very  frequent  remark  of 
apostate  Mormons,  "we  have  had  enough  of  that 
for  both  time  and  eternity!" 

The  motive  power  of  the  female  polygamic  organ- 
ization is  the  class  of  women  of  which  we  have  been 
treating. 


148  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

Were  it  not  for  certain  of  these  women  the  organ- 
ization could  not  live  a  year.  But  they  make  a 
semi-annual  tour  of  the  Territory,  visiting  every 
settlement,  and  holding,  as  it  were,  revival  meet- 
ings, expounding  the  beauties  and  glories  of  a 
polygamous  life,  and  exhorting  the  sisters  to  be 
faithful  followers  of  the  "new  and  everlasting  cove- 
nant of  marriage." 

Of  course  these  women  are  called  the  most  noted 
in  the  Church,  and  are  regarded  very  highly  by  the 
priesthood  for  their  inestimable  services  in  propagat- 
ing the  peculiar  doctrine  and  in  continually  furnish- 
ing new  victims  to  be  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  that 
insatiable  monster,  polygamy. 

For  the  fanatics,  Ave  must  have  a  little  sympathy 
and  commiseration.  They  are  deserving  of  real 
pity,  for  they  should  be  regarded  as  partially  insane. 
People  whose  infatuation  completely  overpowers 
their  reason  can  scarcely  be  declared  in  a  normal 
intellectual  condition. 

But  what  sentiments  shall  good  women  entertain 
for  others  who  are  described  as  "endowed  by  the 
Creator  with  more  than  the  poet's  soul,  gifts  that 
are  not  of  mere  religious  training  or  growth,  but 
have  come  down  from  the  ages;  who  are  inspired  by 
the  mystic  memories  of  the  past, — daughters  of 
Judah's  royal  house,  possessing  fine  sentiment,  rich- 
ness of  fancy,  quick  sympathy,  rare  enthusiasm, 
and  deathless  devotion, — genius  which  God  wills 
them  to  manifest  for  the  great  world's  good,  whose 
lives  are  devoted  to  labors  for  the  benefit  and  eleva- 


TOOLS  OF  THE  PRIESTHOOD.  149 

tion  of  woman?"  What  sentiments,  we  repeat,  shall 
be  entertained  for  these,  who,  were  but  one  tithe 
of  what  is  said  about  them  true,  would  walk  as 
sisters  to  the  gods?  And  yet,  they  are  hailed  by 
the  ignorant  and  deluded  dupes  of  Mormonism  as 
the  "early  exponents,  by  precept  and  example,  of 
the  new  and  everlasting  covenant  of  marriage,  and 
as  leaders  in  the  self-sacrifice  at  first  necessary  to 
establish  its  principles." 

What  sentiments  shall  be  entertained  for  women 
possessing  these  voble  qualities  and  God-like  at- 
tributes, and  who  can  permit  themselves  to  be 
styled,  "  honored  wives  of  our  revered  and  martyred 
prophet,  Joseph  Smith," — who  can  announce  them- 
selves exponents  of  a  faith  that  is  alike  dishonoring 
and  degrading  to  womanhood ;  a  faith  that  makes 
a  beast  of  man  and  a  slave  of  woman;  a  faith  that 
renders  marriage  a  by-word,  and  imprints  a  mark 
of  shame  on  the  brows  of  innocent  children;  a  faith 
that  entails  untold  wrongs  and  misery  upon  genera- 
tion after  generation;  a  system  which  is  character- 
ized by  shameless  indecencies,  fearful  brutalities, 
and  almost  incredible  beastliness? 

Did  Cod  endow  women  with  the  divine  £"ift  of 
genius,  that  they  should  openly  advocate  a  system 
which  permits  a  man  to  marry  a  woman  and  her 
1  wo  daughters  and  live  with  them,  raising  families, 
and  only  one  room?  a  system  that  permits  a  man  to 
marry  the  children  of  his  own  brother?  a  system 
that  sets  at  defiance  all  law,  order,  morality,  and 


150  WOMEN   OF  MOUMONISM. 

decency?  Verily,  this  may  be  called  the  "Divine 
curse  of  genius!" 

A  certain  young  girl  who  had  been  allured  into 
polygamy  through  the  instrumentality  of  one  of 
these  women,  said  not  very  long  ago,  "  The  names  of 
some  representative  women  of  Mormonism  should  be 
handed  down  to  posterity,  branded  with  eternal 
infamy,  for  the  part  they  have  had  in  the  ruin  of 
young  girls  and  women.  They  are  responsible  for 
the  destruction  of  more  girls,  during  the  half  cen- 
tury that  they  have  been  tools  of  the  priesthood, 
than  all  the  bad  women  of  the  United  States  put 
together.  Hundreds  of  young  girls  have  been  de- 
stroyed every  year,  body  and  soul,  through  the 
direct  influence  of  these  creatures.  Hundreds  of 
women  are  lying  in  unwept  graves,  murdered  by 
polygamy,  who  embraced  the  doctrine  through  the 
teaching  of  these  women.  Women,  did  I  say?  No, 
they  are  not  women,  they  are  not  human,  they  are 
ghouls!" 

Another  young  lady  who  apostatized  lately,  the 
daughter  of  a  very  high  Mormon  dignitary,  said 
that  when  it  Avas  known  that  she  was  becoming 
weak  in  the  faith,  a  number  of  the  sisters — leading 
Mormon  women— came  to  expostulate  with  her, 
and  get  her  back  into  the  fold.  They  did  not  want 
her  to  apostatize  because  she  knew  too  much,  and  ;is 
she  was  fearless  enough  to  express  her  opinions 
very  freely  in  regard  to  the  degrading  institution 
and  its  upholders,  they  were  afraid  that  her  revela- 
tions would  cause  a  shaking  among  the  dry  bones. 


TOOLS  OF  THE  PRIESTBOOD.  \:,\ 

But  it  was  tiie  "ministrations"  of  two  of  these 
women  that  was  the  last  straw  in  the  camel's  load. 
Her  eyes  had  been  opened  by  the  wholesale  perjury 
and  falsehood  she  had  seen  committed  by  the  leaders 
in  order  to  conceal  their  crimes  and  iniquities,  but 
she  was  scarcely  prepared  for  the  consummate 
hypocrisy  displayed  by  these  "priestesses." 

In  reference  to  one  of  them,  she  said:  "The  idea 
of  that  woman  talking  religion  to  me,  prating  about 
the  faith  of  my  father,  and  the  pure  doctrines  of 
this  holy  church,  when  she  knew  that  I  was  well 
aware  of  the  fact  that  she  had  deceived  our  hus- 
band, and  lived  <i*  plural  vdfe  to  Joseph  Smith, 
before  she  had  become  the  concubine  <>/  my  own 
father.  When  she  spoke  of  my  father,  1  said  to  her, 
'  I  loved  my  father,  because  he  was  good  to  me ;  but 
I  cannot  disguise  this  truth  which  you  know  very 
well,  that  polygamy  made  him  a  cruel  tyrant  who 
broke  the  hearts  of  many  women.  You  know  also 
that  polygamy  destroyed  the  life  of  your  only 
daughter;  and  yet  whenever  you  hear  of  a  young- 
girl  who  is  intelligent  or  independent  enough  to 
think  for  herself,  you  can  never  rest  until  you  get 
her  bound  in  these  chains.' 

"  But  what  angered  and  disgusted  me  the  most," 
continued  this  young  lady  in  speaking  of  the  inter- 
view, "was  the  fact  that  I  knew  so  well  that  they 
did  not  believe  one  word  they  were  saying,  and  the 
only  motive  they  had  in  pleading  with  me  to  remain 
in  the  church  was,  they  were  afraid  that  if  I  apos- 
tatized I  would  ventilate  sonic  of  the   wrongs  and 


152  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

impositions  of  Mormonism.  And  1  had  more  than 
one  fact  in  1113-'  keeping  regarding  themselves  which 
did  not  redound  much  to  their  credit,  and,  if  ex- 
posed, would  not  add  to  their  reputations  as  true 
wives  or  virtuous  women.  And  yet  they  can  talk 
by  the  hour  in  the  Relief  Society  about  the  pure 
doctrines  of  Mormonism, — doctrines  that  rob  women 
of  purity,  modesty,  womanliness,  and  all  that  a  true 
woman  can  hold  dear  in  this  life." 

But  preaching  polygamy  is  not  the  only  way  in 
which  these  infamous  women  assist  in  rnamtaininff 
the  power  of  the  Mormon  theocracy.  Two  sources 
of  that  power  are,  the  keeping  of  the  people  in 
ignorance  and  in  poverty.  This  last  condition  is 
maintained  not  only  by  forced  contributions,  called 
tithing,  for  the  support  of  the  church,  hut  by  the 
unestimated  amount  of  corruption  money  that  is 
annually  wrung-  from  the  poor,  to  cement  more 
firmly  the  chains  that  hind  the  wrists  of  justice. 
Some  idea  of  the  amount  of  the  corruption  fund  re- 
quired annually,  may  he  imagined  by  simply  quot- 
ing some  of  their  own  statements.  Brigham  Young 
said  frequently  in  public  that  he  could  and  would 
buy  every  member  of  ( Jongress  in  the  United  Stales, 
if  necessary,  in  order  to  defeat  legislation  against 
this  people. 

A  former  delegate  from  this  Territory  openly 
boasted  that  he  owned  a  good  man  in  every  bureau 
in  each  department  in  Washington. 

In  the  early  part  of  1881,  at  the  time  that  Gov. 
Murray  of  Utah  issued  the  certificate  of  election  to 


TOOLS  OF  THE  PRIESTHOOD.  153 

Hon.  A.  G.  Campbell  and  denied  it  to  George  Q. 
Cannon,  when  it  looked  as  if  the  sentiment  of  the 
country  would  soon  force  the  Mormon  question  to  a 
climax,  it  was  currently  reported  throughout  the 
Territory,  that  Cannon  telegraphed  from  Wash- 
ington do  Salt  Lake  City,  that  he  would  need  th  • 
snin  of  $800,000  to  insure  him  success,  should  there- 
he  an  extra  session  and  a  contest  ensue;  and  no 
sooner  was  the  news  received  than  a  system  of  ex- 
tortion was  commenced  to  compel  the  Saints  to  con- 
tribute to  this  fund.  There  was  manifested  a  dis- 
position  among  some  to  let  Cannon  take  care  of  him- 
self, and  a  reluctance,  if  not  a  positive  determination 
among  the  poorer  classes  not  to  allow  themselves  to 
he  bled  for  this  enormous  sum. 

But  a  Mormon  cannot  remain  a  Mormon  and  not 
comply  with  the  demands  of  the  church,  however 
unjust  they  may  bo.  And  as  soon  as  the  mandate 
had  gone  forth  that  this  money  must  he  raised,  the 
Relit  f  Societies  commenced  their  work  of  levying  on 
the  poor. 

"These  ghouls,"  said  one  outspoken  woman,  "will 
divest  the  poorest  class  of  people  of  every  available 
egg  and  ounce  of  butter,  under  penalty  of  excommu- 
nication. They  will  do  more  than  that,  they  will 
even  take  the  bread  out  of  the  children's  mouths 
to  cast  it  to  the  dogs.  'Corruption  fund'  is  truly 
an  appropriate  name  for  this  money,  which  is  fairly 
squeezed  out  of  the  body  and  blood  of  these  poor, 
misguided  people." 

We  could  pursue  this  subject  still  further,  but  it 
is  heart  sickening  and   repulsive.      It  is  bad  enough 


154  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

to  know  that  men  with  untamed  passions  and  lust 
for  power  will  subjugate  women  and  hold  them  at 
their  mercy ;  but  to  see  women  prostituting  talents, 
capacity,  and  energy  to  the  service  of  these  vile 
masters  is  more  than  enough  to  make  a  woman 
curse  her  sex,  and  wish  that  she  had  been  anything 
else  than  a  woman.  Is  it  not  sufficient  to  make  the 
women  of  the  country  rise  en  masse  and  demand 
the  immediate  abolition  of  a  system  which  venders 
WOMAN  only  a  term  of  reproach  and  dishonor? 

Women  of  America,  we  have  shown  you  how 
woman  is  most  cruelly  wronged  under  this  infamous 
system,  and  is  it  not  fitting  that  woman  should  be 
the  most  active  in  working  for  its  suppression  ?  The 
victims  of  polygamy  are  women,  and  is  it  not  meet 
that  women  should  take  the  initiative  measures 
that  will  lead  to  its  complete  abolition  '. 

And  do  you  wonder  now,  that  we  whose  lot  has 
been  cast  in  the  midst  of  this  deluded  people,  who 
have  seen  the  hypocrisy  and  brutality  of  the  Mor- 
mon leaders,  who  have  learned  the  workings  of  this 
infamous  system,  who  have  listened  to  these  talcs  of 
tyranny  and  outrage  from  the  lips  of  the  women 
themselves,  who  have  seen  their  hopeless,  dejected 
countenances,  from  which  the  light  of  hope  and  faith 
has  forever  tied,  who  have  heard  them  declare  that 
they  had  no  trust  in  either  humanity  or  God, — do 
you  wonder  that  we  sometimes  think  that  our 
Christianity  is  but  a  mockery,  and  the  boasted  free- 
dom of  our  nation  a  by-word  of  shame  and  reproach, 
so  Long  as  there  exists  in  our  country  such  a  class  as 
the  "  Women  of  Mormonism  '.  " 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Jbt   Jlarncsi  jfytpcnl 

Quotation    from    the   Dexeret    Fews,    Joseph    Smith's  Widow?.- 

"  Changed  Views.— Smith's  Denunciation  of  Polygamy.— Married 

or  Single.— Controversy  with    God.— Polygamy   Binding  upon 

All  or  None— No   Plural   Marriage. 

^YJYShF,  following  was  published  in  a  little  differ- 

HIII ent  form' but  sul,stantiall)r  the  same' in  thr 

<%£&'<£  columns  of  the  Anti-Polygamy  Standard. 
'§M)    It  was  addressed  to  those  Mormon  women, 
W*    collectively,  who  are  public  advocates  of  the 
*^*       doctrine  of  polygamy,  and  whose  teachings 
have  been  potent  in  influencing  hundreds  of  women 
to   sacrifice  themselves   upon    this   cruel  altar.     Of 
course,   the  appeal  never  elicited  any  reply  or  ex- 
planation.    None  could  be  truthfully  given  without 
convicting  a  number  of  these  sisters  of  falsehood,  as 
any  unprejudiced  reader  can  see  for  himself  by  com- 
paring the  historical  facts  quoted  below  from  their 
own  church  records. 

Writing  to  the  Deseret  News,  the  Mormon  church 
organ,  under  date  Oct.  17,  1879,  Eliza  R.  Sno^ 
says:— 

"It  may   be   asked.    Why    defend    plurality  of 
wives,  since  the  United  States  Government  forbids 

(155) 


15  G  WOMEN   OF  MORMON  ISM. 

its  practice?  The  action  of  the  executors  of  this 
Government  can  neither  change  nor  annihilate  a 
fundamental  truth;  an<l  this  action,  in  preventing 
the  practice  of  plural  marriage,  shoulders  a  heavier 
responsibility  than  any  nation  has  ever  assumed, 
with  one  exception, — that  of  the  ancient  .lews.  If 
the  Government  can  afford  it,  we  can.  The  contro- 
versy is  with  God,  not  us." 

This  was  signed  "Eliza  R.  Snow,  a  wife  of  Joseph 
Smith,  the  prophet." 

On  the  occasion  of  a  woman's  meeting  at  the 
Theater  in  Salt  Lake  City  in  the  fall  of  1^78,  for 
the  purpose  of  justifying  the  doctrine  of  plural  mar- 
riage, and  of  protesting  against  tin*  right  of  the 
United  States  Government  to  interfere  with  its 
practice,  Mrs.  Zina  1).  Jacobs,  (generally  known  as 
Mrs.  Zina  Young,)  proclaimed  herself  as  one  of  the 
widows  of  the  prophet  Smith.  At  that  same  meet- 
ing, Miss  Eliza  R.  Snow  and  Mrs.  Phebe  Woodruff 
declared  that  they  len&w  polygamy  was  a  divine 
ordinance,  and  its  practice  a  direct  command 
from  God.  Miss  Snow  further  said  that  she  looked 
with  sympathy  and  commiseration  upon  the  mis- 
guided Gentile  women  who  were  opposing  the  sacred 
institution.  "They  are  trying  to  measure  arms  with 
the  Almighty,"  she  exclaimed,  "and  they  know  not 
what  they  do.  We  believe  in  the  principle  of 
plural  marriage  as  sacredly  as  Ave  believe  in  any 
other  institution  which  God  has  revealed." 

We  will  not  question  the  sincerity  of  these  "priest- 
esses of  polygamy,"  but  we  would  like  to  ask  them 


AN  EARNEST  APPEAL.  157 

how  they  have  happened  to  change  their  minds  so 
completely;  for  in  early  days  they  assumed  a  very 
different  attitude  upon  this  question.  Some  of  us, 
workers  in  the  Anti-Polygamy  cause,  were  good 
Mormons  in  the  days  before  polygamy  Avas  a  prin- 
ciple of  the  Latter-day  faith.  Some  of  us  were  in 
Nauvoo  when  Joseph  Smith  and  John  C.  Bennett 
were  deceiving  any  number  of  sisters,  and  when 
"  spiritual  wifery "  was  first  concocted  as  a  means 
of  allaying  the  scandal  which  had  grown  to  such 
alarming  proportions,  that  there  were  threats  from 
the  most  devout  Mormons,  of  cleaning  out  the  entire 
iniquitous  nest.  But  worse  than  all,  the  scandal 
was  not  confined  to  Nauvoo,  but  had  also  gained 
credence  in  the  outside  world. 

However,  the  prophet  was  a  man  of  sagacity 
equal  to  the  occasion,  and  he  immediately  came  out 
in  an  article,  which  can  be  found  in  Vol.  3  of  Times 
and  Seasons,  the  Mormon  church  official  organ,  de- 
nouncing the  "secret  wife"  system  as  the  manufact- 
ure of  John  C.  Bennett,  who  thus  perpetrated  a 
foul  and  infamous  slander  upon  an  innocent  people. 

Elder  Hyrum  Brown  was  excommunicated  for 
preaching  polygamy  in  Michigan,  and  certificates 
were  published,  numerously  signed,  setting  forth 
that  the  Latter-day  church  and  the  people  of  Nau- 
voo know  of  no  other  system  of  marriage  than  that 
contained  in  the  "Book  of  Doctrines  and  Cove- 
nants," which,  of  course,  was  monogamic. 

And  some  of  us  remember  the  indignation  mani- 
fested by  these  very  sisters  who  are  now  so  positive 


158  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

of  the  divinity  of  polygamy,  that  such  a  "  foul 
slander  should  have  been  perpetrated  upon  the  inno- 
cent Mormons."  Some  of  these  sisters  who  noAV  an- 
nounce themselves  as  widows  of  the  martyred 
prophet,  then  testified  publicly  that  polygamy  did 
not  exist,  as  witness  the  following,  which  we  copy 
from  Times  and  Seasoiis  of  1843: — 

"We,  the  undersigned,  members  of  the  Ladies' 
Relief  Society,  and  married  females,  do  certify  and 
declare  that  we  know  of  no  system  of  marriage  be- 
ing practiced  in  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Lat- 
ter-day Saints,  save  the  one  contained  in  the  'Book 
of  Doctrines  and  Covenants ; '  and  we  give  this  cer- 
tificate to  the  public  to  show  that  J.  C.  Bennett's 
'secret  wife '  system  is  a  disclosure  of  his  own  make." 
This  is  signed  by  Eliza  R.  Snow,  Phebe  Woodruff, 
and  fifteen  others. 

Both  of  these  sisters  now  call  themselves  widows 
of  Joseph  Smith,  who  was  killed  in  1844,  only  one 
year  subsequent  to  the  time  when  they  testified  that 
the  "secret  wife"  system  was  a  disclosure  of  J.  C. 
Bennett's  own  make.  We  should  be  gratified  if 
they  would  explain  these  conflicting  statements,  and 
tell  us  why  they  then  denied  so  solemnly  the  exist- 
ence of  what  they  now  declare  they  know  to  be 
a  divine  institution,  revealed  by  God.  And  further- 
more, we  should  be  glad  if  sister  Eliza  would  tell 
us  to  whom  she  was  married  at  the  time,  of  that 
denial,  for  she  publicly  avGwed  herself  to  lie  a  "mar- 
ried female,"  and  we  knew  her  as  Miss  Eliza  R. 
Sftow,  a  single  woman. 


AN  EARNEST  APPEAL.  159 

If  she  was  married  to  Joseph  Smith  at  that  tunc, 
as  a  plural  wife,  then  she  signed  her  name  to  what 
she  must  have  known  was  a  falsehood;  and  if  she 
was  not  married  to  the  prophet,  then  she  publicly 
acknowledges  herself  to  be  an  impostor  in  now 
claiming  to  be  his  widow. 

It  is  these  glaring  discrepancies  that  make  us 
doubt  their  ability  to  lead  the  masses  of  the  Mor- 
mon women,  of  whom  they  are  the  acknowled.-vu 
head  and  teachers,  in  the  paths  of  truth  and  virtue. 
It  is  these  which  make  us  think,  even  at  the  risk  of 
being  deemed  uncharitable,  that  they  are  more 
culpable  than  "  blind  leaders  of  the  blind." 

But,  in  regard  to  the  declaration  of  E.  R  Snow 
that  "Ahe    controversy   is  with   God,   not  us,"   we 

would  say: — 

Be  that  as  it  may,  we  of  the  Anti-Polygamy 
cause,  in  behalf  of  ourselves,  and  in  the  interest  of 
the  innocent  women,— yes,  of  all  women,  innocent 
or  guilty,— and  of  the  girls  in  this  Territory,  "with 
charity  to  all,  and  with  malice  toward  none,"— we 
have  a  controversy  with  E.  R  Snow,  and  Mrs. 
Jacobs,  and  Mrs.  Woodruff,  and  with  any  other 
l^lyo-amous  person  who  publicly  proclaims  adher- 
ence to  and  belief  in  polygamy.  We  desire  to  know 
fully  and  explicitly  upon  what  such  belief  and 
adherence  is  based. 

Come,  and  let  us  reason  awhile  together  upon  this 
all-important  subject.  If  polygamy  is  good  for  you, 
why  would  it  not  be  good  for  us?  and  if  it  is  a 
blessing  and  benefit  for  one,  it  should  be  a  benefit 


WOMM 

and  .   for  all.     If  then-  be  any 

accept,  or  any  condemnation  in  re; 
--.and  ready,  in 
it  and  pr 
and  on  t:  to  be  made  par- 

"  condemnat:  h  you  tell  us,  and  1 

non--  the 

:  the  doctr. 
If  . 

..and   of    God,    t 
upon  it  in  that  light,  an- 1 

:  full  an>: 

can1.  :  the  wl. 

that  upon  n<  aim  car- 

command  of  God,  t: 

of  a  .    :  1  it  accordingly,  and  to  turn 

away  from  it. 

I-  *  ST  1  : 

re  a  beam  in  our 
and  but  a  mote  in  your  ". 

pluel-  'leam  an 

and  then  we  shall  see  with  c. 

We  ha1 
and  t  with  many  on  th 

-bly  it  must 
But  har^h  t.  - 

I 
the  mind  of  man  or  woman.     The  Spiril 

co-operating  with  human  rea  has 

do  that. 

_•  iiaent  r 


AN  EARNEST  APPEAL.  1G1 

the  origin  of  polygamy.  That  is  not  a  matter  of 
obscurity,  but  of  plain  historic  record,  so  well  au- 
thenticate i  that  it  would  be  as  foolish  to  question  it 
as  it  would  be  to  question  whether  or  not  the  battle 
of  Waterloo  ever  occurred. 

Of  course,  the  advocates  of  the  system  persistently 
ignore  this  historical  record ;  but  that  is  no  evidence 
of  its  incorrectness,  as  there  are  people  living  in 
Utah  to-day,  whose  word  is  as  worthy  of  confidence 
as  that  of  the  polygamy  advocates  can  be,  whose 
personal  experience  will  fully  corroborate  and  sus- 
tain the  historical  fact. 

In  the  quotation  at  the  head  of  this  article,  E.  R. 
Snow  says, — and  we  are  quite  pleased  to  agree  with 
her  in  this, — -"The  action  of  the  Government  can 
neither  change  nor  annihilate  a  fundamental  truth." 
That  proposition  is  so  plain  as  to  require  no  argu- 
ment, no  defense.  But  when  she  adds  that  "this 
nation,  in  preventing  the  practice  of  plural  marriage. 
shoulders  a  responsibility  heavier  than  any  other 
nation  has  ever  assumed, — with  one  exception,  that 
of  the  ancient  .Jews," — as  Christian  wives  and 
mothers,  as  lovers  of  our  sex  and  of  our  country,  we 
call  upon  her  to  indicate  more  clearly  than  she 
seems  inclined  to  do,  in  what  this  awful  responsi- 
bility consists. 

And  first,  that  E.  R.  Snow  may  learn  where  we 
stand,  and  where  we  claim  the  country  stands  upon 
this  matter,  we  hold  there  can  in  reality  be  no  such 
thing  under  our,  or  any  other,  civilized  Government 
as  "plural  marriage."     Marriage  is  the  union  of  one 

11 


162  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

man  with  one  woman.  Any  arrangement  aside 
from  this  is  not  of  the  nature  of  marriage  at  all. 

And  if,  leaving  our  country  and  time,  she  insists 
upon  "fundamental  truth," — upon  the  fundamental 
basis  of  marriage, — we  need  only  cite  our  first 
parents.  They  certainly  were  one  pair, — one  man 
and  one  woman, — that  was  God's  original  ordaining. 
That,  we  claim,  may  fairly  be  esteemed  "funda- 
mental." 

Now,  if  E.  R.  Snow,  or  any  other  person,  claims 
that  a  union  of  the  sexes,  upon  any  other  basis  is 
marriage,  it  must  be  made  clear  beyond  all  contro- 
versy or  doubt,  that  that  basis  which  is  to  super- 
sede the  original  or  "fundamental"  ordaining  of  the 
sexual  relation,  is  not  of  man  and  his  lusts,  but 
of  God  and  his  love. 

Although  man  changes,  God  is  the  same,  yester- 
day, to-day,  and  forever.  Although  our  views  of 
truth  may  change  or  enlarge,  truth  itself  is  forever 
unchangeable,  forever  the  same.  What  seemed  a 
truth  yesterday,  may  not  seem  a  truth  to-day.  But 
God  is  God,  and  truth  is  truth.  And  we  perfectly 
agree  with  her,  that  any  Government  would  assume 
a  very  great  responsibility  in  presuming  to  interfere 
with  the  "fundamental"  law  of  marriage. 

Eliza  R  Snow,  Mrs.  Jacobs,  and  others,  we  mildly 
and  in  all  sincerity  ami  charity  of  soul  suggest 
to  you,  that  before  leaving  this  checkered  scene 
of  mortal  life, — and  your  time,  our  time,  may  be 
short, — you  could  not  possibly  do  a  better  or  a 
nobler  tiling  than  to  come  out  boldly  and  frankly, 


AN  EARNEST  APPEAL. 


163 


and  tell  us,  and  especially  your  non-polygamous 
Mormon  sisters,  just  what  influences  and  agencies 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  you  to  induce  you  to 
accept  polygamy  as  having  the  sanction  of  God. 

You  must  wander  back  to  days  and  years  long  past, 
but  let  us  know  whether  you  were  flattered,  cajoled, 
or  intimidated  into  the  acceptance  of  that  from 
which  your  naturally  clear  sense,  and  all  your 
womanly  feelings  and  instincts,  must  have  revolted. 
And  may  the  all-loving  Father  sustain  your  souls  to 
make  the  crowning  sacrifice  for  Truth's  sake. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

dj^tt  Jttfhfi  k  lip  ftu-ijmmt  lfmn^n+ 

Anti-Polj-garaists  Animated  Only  by  Love  of  Humanity.— A 
Revelation  Cannot  Release  from  Allegiance  to  Law. — Fruits  of 
Polygamy. — Geo.  Q.  Cannon's  Four  Wives. — Ann  Eliza  Young's 
Suit. — Letter  from  Ann  Eliza  Young. — Woman  in  Utah  and 
Other  Sections. 

LETTER  NUMBER  ONE. 

gjfj§J^ELIEVING  that  there  are  many   Mormon 

fjL^jfc)  women  who  conscientiously  accept  polygamy 

t^I^Tm"  as  a  part  of   their  religion,  and  who  submit 

.Til        to  all  it  imposes  because  they  think  that 

w\W     God  requires  such  submission,  or,  perhaps, 

I        as  one  of   their  number  has  said,  because 

they  fear  it  may  be  true  that  God  requires 

it,  we  feel  that  it  is  due  to  them,  as  well  as  to 

ourselves,  to  make  a  statement  of  our  position  in  the 

A  ii I L- 1 '< ilygamy  Movement. 

In  the  first  place,  we  desire  you  to  understand 
fully  and  distinctly  that  we  have  been  impelled  to  the 
wmk  we  have  undertaken  only  by  a  common  loVe 
of  humanity,  and  we  feel  we  should  be  criminally 
culpable,  did  we  not  exert  our  utmost  influence 
to  impede  a  system  which  can  only  result  in  an 
accumulation  of  evil  and  misfortune,  and  which  has 
already  brought  sorrow  and  shame  into  so  many 
(164) 


OPEN  LETTERS.  1G5 

households  in  this  Territory.  "We  arc  confident  that 
this  and  succeeding  generations  will  bo  benefited  by 
our  efforts,  and  we  believe  that  many  Mormon 
women,  in  their  secret  hearts,  wish  us  complete  and 
glorious  .success. 

We  are  not,  as  has  been  frequently  asserted  by 
some  of  your  leaders,  "banded  together  to  destroy 
the  most  sacred  ties  between  man  and  woman;  to 
make  children  bastards,  and  trample  upon  the  holiest, 
affections  of  the  human  heart."  We  should  indeed 
regret  that  any  sorrow  should  come  to  you  through 
our  action,  for  we  are  all  sisters  by  virtue  of  our 
common  womanhood,  and  we  know  that  of  all 
sorrows,  that  is  the  greatest  which  opens  our  eyes  to 
the  fact  that  we  have  been  cherishing  idols  of  clay, 
and  have  raised  false  gods  and  have  fallen  down 
to  worship  them.  No  sorrow  that  we  are  able  to 
avert  shall  come  to  the  Mormon  women.  We  do 
not  wish,  as  your  leaders  Haim,  to  misrepresent  our 
own  sex  in  regard  to  the  holy  relations  of  wife  and 
mother,  and  our  only  desire  is  to  accomplish  good 
for  the  poor,  persecuted  women  of  Utah,  as  you 
call  yourselves. 

We  concede  to  all  the  right  to  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion.  Our  country  is  a  land  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty;  but  while  our  nation  is  one  of  free- 
dom, it  is  by  common  consent  governed  by  law. 
Ni.w,  if  you  are  what  is  always  claimed  for  you, 
loyal  American  citizens,  devoted  to  the  maintenance 
of  law,  you  must  admit  that  no  assumed  revela- 
tion can  exempt  any  one  from    obedience  to  that 


166'  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

law;  for,  if  one  has  a  right  to  obey  a  revelation 
which  he  pretends  to  have  had,  another  may  do  the 
same,  and  thus  any  crime  may  be  justified.  If 
some  of  us  should  come  to  you  and  say  we  had 
received  a  revelation  from  Heaven  commanding  us 
to  murder  you  or  your  dear  children,  would  you 
submit  quietly?  Would  you  not  claim  the  protection 
of  the  law  ? 

The  revelation  on  polygamy  is  as  directly  Op- 
posed to  our  law  as  a  revelation  to  practice  whole- 
sale murder  would  be.  Neither  was  it  an  institution 
of  the  primitive  Mormon  church;  and  if,  as  you 
assume,  truth  cannot  change, — God  is- the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever, — will  you  enlighten 
us  how  his  mind  has  changed  in  this  one  particular 
case? 

But  the  best  way  to  judge  of  the  good  or  evil  of 
any  system,  is  by  its  effects.  Can  any  of  you  hon- 
estly and  truthfully  say  that  one  single  good  has 
resulted  from  the  practice  of  polygamy?  On  the 
contrary,  can  any  of  you  deny  that  its  consequences 
have  been  a  long  train  of  evils,  some  of  which  we 
cannot  even  hint  at  and  preserve  our  self-respect? 
Can  you  deny  that  it  has  planted  sorrows  which 
have  blasted  ten  thousand  lives,  and  whose  intlu- 
ences  will  be  felt  upon  generations  yet  unborn? 

Do  not  thousands  of  you  feel,  though  you  dare 
not  say  so,  that  there  never  was  such  a  mockery  of 
God,  such  a  blasphemy,  as  to  call  this  accursed 
institution  of  polygamy  a  religious  principle?  If 
you  would  only  reflect  seriously  for  a  few  moments 


OPEN  LETTERS.  167 

and  let  the  scales  fall  from  your  eyes,  you  could  not 
help  seeing  that  the  system  was  founded  by  the 
most  transparent  fraud  of  the  century,  and  its  sup- 
ports are  superstition,  ignorance,  falsehood,  and  lust. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  the  civilization  of 
any  people  'can  be  measured  by  the  respect  and 
tenderness  bestowed  upon  woman.  Tried  by  this 
standard,  what  degree  of  civilization  has  been  at- 
tained by  the  Mormon  people?  We  appeal  to  any 
Mormon  woman  who  knows  the  practical  workings 
of  polygamy  to  answer  this  question.  In  the 
polygamous  households  of  your  neighl  m  >rs  and  friends, 
is  woman  honored?  Is  she  treated  with  tenderness 
or  respect?  Is  her  life  made  happy  by  her  husband's 
care,  and  by  his  consideration  for  her  feelings  and 
her  wishes?  On  the  contrary,  are  you  not  told  that 
you  have  no  right  to  expect  your  husband  to  love 
you,  and  that  it  is  enough  honor  for  you  to  be 
allowed  to  bear  children  to  a  Saint?  Is  this  ful- 
filling God's  purpose  toward  woman  on  earth,  to  be 
obliged  to  smother  the  holiest  instincts  of  woman- 
hood,  and  to  degenerate  into  mere  child-bearers, 
as  you  know  yon  have  degenerated?  And  do  the 
men  of  your  faith,  these  Saints,  treat  the  mothers 
of  their  children  as  wives,  respecting  them  as  such, 
and  demanding  the  same  respect  from  others? 

When  George  Q.  Cannon  made  his  public  answer 
to  G.  R.  Maxwell,  who  contested  his  seat  in  Congress, 
he  said,  "  I  deny  that  I  am  living  with  four  wives." 
What  did  this  mean?  George  Q.  Cannon  was  cer- 
tainly living  at  that  time  with  four  women,   all  of 


1G8  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

whom  had  borne  him  children,  and  he  lives  with 
them  to  this  day.  If  they  are  not  his  wives,  what 
are  they?  Will  any  of  you  undertake  to  explain 
this  to  us? 

Only  a  few  days  ago,  the  brother  of  George  Q. 
Cannon  was  a  witness  in  the  case  of  Cannon  vs. 
Campbell,  the  Utah  contestant  for  Delegate  to  Con- 
gress. This  brother  declared  upon  oath  that  he  did 
not  know  George  Q.  Cannon  was  living  in  polygamy, 
and  that  he  knew  the  name  of  no  woman  who 
claimed  to  be  a  wife  of  George  Q.  Cannon,  except 
one,  and  that  one  was  Elizabeth  Hoagland,  his  first 
wife.  You  know  that  there  is  scarcely  a  Mormon 
child  in  Salt  Lake  City  who  does  not  know  the  four 
women  who  are  called  George  Q.  Cannon's  wives, 
also  their  children. 

When  Ann  Eliza  Youno1  commenced  her  suit 
for  divorce,  Brigham  Young's  answer  to  her  plea, 
as  made  in  court,  was  in  substance,  that  she  was  not 
his  wife,  because  he  had  been  lawfully  married  to 
Mary  Ann  Angell  many  years  before,  and  his  wife, 
the  said  Mary  Ann  Angell,  was  still  living  and 
undivorced.  Can  you  not  see  plainly  the  position  in 
which  this  answer  places  all  but  the  first  wife? 

Will  you  tell  us  now  who  it  is  that  "would  de- 
stroy the  most  sacred  ties  between  man  and  woman, 
make  children  bastards,  and  trample  upon  the  holiest 
affections  of  the  human  heart"  ?  When  George  Q. 
( lannon  denied  that  he  had  four  wives,  what  status 
did  he  assign  to  those  plural  wives,  and  also  to 
their  children  ?     Winn  Brigham   Young  said  Ann 


OPEN  LETTERS.  169 

Eliza  was  not  his  wife,  did  he  not  tacitly  avow 
that  neither  of  his  other  plural  wives  were  married 
to  him,  and  that  in  consequence  their  children  were 
illegitimate? 

If  you  would  only  lift  your  eyes  and  look  through 
the  mists  of  superstition  which  envelop  you,  you 
would  see  that  the  fetters  which  weigh  you  down 
were  forged  by  man's  brutality,  and  not  laid  upon 
you  by  a  just  and  merciful  God.  Can  you  not  see 
how  you  have  been  ensnared,  and  have  you  not  been 
deluded  long  enough?  Will  you  not  listen  to  the 
voices  of  }^our  own  hearts,  and  break  the  chains 
which  not  only  bind  you,  but  which  divorce  from 
your  hearts  all  the  holier  instincts  of  womanhood? 
Will  you  not,  we  most  earnestly  entreat,  join  hands 
with  us,  bravely  and  fearlessly,  in  the  cause  of 
purity,  happiness,  and  justice  to  yourselves? 

Non-Mormon  Women. 


LETTER  NUMBER  TWO. 

Ever  since  my  escape  from  the  dark  prison-house 
of  polygamous  slavery  into  the  light  of  freedom  and 
<  Ihristianity,  one  thought  has  been  in  my  mind.  If 
1  could  only  show  to  every  woman  the  contrast 
be1  ween  the  lives  of  women  in  Utah  and  those  in  all 
other  parts  of  this"  great  land;  if  I  could  make  the 
women  of  Utah  understand  what  a  glorious  sense  of 
freedom  one  feels,  who,  breaking  away  from  the 
gloom,  the  slavery,  the  misery  of  an  existence  un- 
der the  teachings  of  the  Mormon  priesthood,  comes 


170  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

into  the  society,  the  civilization,  which  is  based  upon 
Christianity,  which  protects  the  family  and  honors 
womanhood;  if  the  women  of  Utah  could  only  see 
and  feel,  even  a  little  of  the  wonderful  difference 
between  the  two  cases,  as  I  soon  began  to  see  and  feel 
it  after  my  deliverance, — then  it  seems  to  me 
they  would  make  every  effort,  run  almost  any  risk, 
to  break  their  chains  and  find  true  liberty. 

When  I  first  began  to  travel,  and  go  into 
the  houses  of  this  country,  I  was  filled  with  new 
sensations,  to  see  the  respect  and  courtesy  shown 
by  husbands  to  wives, — the  affectionate  solicitude 
for  their  comfort,  the  glad  welcome  given  after 
separation,  the  pride  which  husbands  seemed  to  feel 
in  their  wives.  It  was  all  so  wonderful  and  new  to 
me!  How  many,  many  times  did  tears  spring  to 
my  eyes,  at  witnessing  so  often  the  tender  part- 
ings of  husbands  and  wives  when  only  leaving  each 
other  for  a  few  days,  or  the  joyous  greetings  after 
a  few  days'  separation. 

And  what  touched  me  most  of  all  was  the  anxious 
and  unceasing  care  which  frail  or  sick  wives  received 
from  their  husbands.  Such  things  are  of  daily 
occurrence.  People  do  not  notice  them,  they  are 
so  much  a  matter  of  course.  But  such  devotion 
is  unknown  to  the;  women  of  Utah,  except  it  be 
to  the  reigning  favorite.  And  every  Mormon 
woman  knows  how  certain  it  is  that  this  favoritism 
will  be  transient,  hence  she  is  ever  pervaded  with 
a  feeling  of  insecurity. 

Is  it  strange  that  thoughts  unutterably  sad  were 


OPEN  LETTER*.  Vj\ 

aroused,  that  my  mind  went  back  to  scenes  of  every- 
day occurrence  where  polygamy  holds  sway  ?  Obe- 
dience to  the  tenets  of  Brig-ham  Young-  and  his  fel- 
low tyrants  produces  no  such  tender  care  of  women 
as  that  I  have  spoken  of. 

He  used  to  whine  in  coarse,  contemptuous  mock- 
ery when  women  came  to  him  with  their  hearts 
overladen  with  miseries  growing  out  of  polygamy, 
and  send  them  away  without  one  word  of  comfort. 
I  am  not  speaking  of  his  wives ;  they  soon  learned 
not  to  go  to  him  for  sympathy. 

But  hundreds,  yes,  thousands,  of  women  yet  living 
in  Utah  can  testify  that  Mormon  teaching  withers 
and  destroys  those  sentiments  which  lead  a  true  man 
to  show  respect  and  courtesy  to  his  wife,  to  care  for 
her  though  her  health  may  fail  and  her  beauty 
wane. 

How  my  heart  ached,  and  still  aches,  to  think 
that  the  sister- women  I  had  left  behind  were  robbed 
of  such  blessings  by  the  cunning  falsehoods  of  coarse 
and  evil  men !  How  rich  in  love  and  happiness  were 
the  lives  of  women  everywhere  in  the  United  States, 
except  in  the  fair  Territory  of  Utah!  There  they 
were  barren  of  all  that  makes  life  dear  to  a  true 
woman.  Riches  can  be  cheerfully  dispensed  with, 
privation  and  toil  do  not  drive  out  happiness;  but  to 
have  poverty  of  affection  and  sympathy — that  de- 
spoils and  nuns  the  life  of  woman. 

And  to  have  this  evil  result  brought  about  under 
the  pretense  of  religion  and  religions  duty, — that  is 
the  saddest  and  most  hopeless  thing  of  all!     That 


172  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

there  are  coarse  and  unfeeling-  men  outside  of  Utah 
is  most  true;  men  who  neglect  their  wives,  who 
wrong  them,  who  are  cruel  and  wicked.  But 
though  husbands  be  unfaithful  here,  the  wife  is 
not  forced  to  have  her  rival  brought  into  her 
home,  and  in  her  very  presence  see  her  hus- 
band lavish  upon  the  usurper  the  tokens  of  his 
affections. 

The  wife  here  is  not  told  from  the  pulpit,  by  her 
religious  teachers,  that  it  is  her  duty  to  submit 
to  this  outrage  upon  her  wifely  love.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  husband  tries  to  conceal  his  misconduct. 
Discovery  is  the  one  thing  he  dreads.  And  if  it  be- 
comes known,  the  wife  receives  the  sympathy  of  all 
good  people.  She  is  not  made  to  believe  it  a  relig- 
ious duty  to  bear  such  cruelty,  and  that  the  rebellion 
of  her  womanly  nature  against  it  is  proof  of  her 
sinful  nature.  She  is  not  compelled  to  go  to  the 
altar  and  place  the  hand  of  another  woman, — 
perhaps  the  one  she  hates  the  most  of  all  women 
in  the  world, — in  the  hand  of  her  husband,  thus 
stifling  her* truest  instinct-. 

On  the  contrary,  if  she  desires  it,  the  law  is 
prompt  to  unloose  her  hand  from  the  clasp  of  him 
who  has  shown  himself  unworthy.  Here,  when  the 
wife  anil  mother  grows  old,  she  is  not  set  aside 
as  worthless,  perhaps  turned  out  of  her  home  to  give 
place  to  a  younger  and  a  fairer  favorite.  Here, 
every  added  wrinkle  or  silver  hair  awakens  added 
devotion  and  more  tender  care.  She  is  revered  and 
loved  for  a  life  of  devotion  to  her  husband. 

But  in  Utah,  in  polygamy,  the  harder  and  more 


OPEN  LETTERS.  173 

successfully  she  has  worked  to  assist  her  husband  to 
accumulate  property,  the  more  likely  she  is  to  have 
to  yield  her  place  to  another.  The  old  wife  does  not 
onizewith  the  fini  furniture  and  modern  im- 
ments  of  the  new  house;  a  younger  and  more 
lovely  one  must  be  taken  to  preside  over  the  estab- 
lishm 

It  maki  soul  burn  with  indignation  when 

I  dwell  upon  these  ou1  Surely,  never  was  the 

■  I  name  of  religion  so  desecrated  as  now,  when 
itisu  uderpossi 

My  heart  goi  -  out  with  pitying  tenderness  to  the 
women  of  Utah;  and  I  pray  that  light  may  shine 
into  their  minds,  that  they  may  see  the  foulness  of 
the  accursed  doctrines  they  have  been  taught,  and 
that  moral  coinage  and  strength  may  be  given  them 
to  break  the  wicked  chains  which  bind  thern  to 

I   know,   my  sisters,   that    in    your   most 
thoughts  you  regard  the  family  life  which  prevails 
0,,t-  Ear  brighter  and  happier  than 

that  which  resulte  from  polygamy.  I  beg  of  you, 
do  not  think  such  thoughts  to  be  wicked.  They  are 
not.     Cherish   them,  to   attain  the  freedom 

which  from  afar  shines  with  the  radiance  of  heaven. 
It  i^  a  heavenly  radiance.      It  i     G  nt  to 

the  deepest  and  truest  y  £     of  your  woman- 

hood.    >■ '      ■  '  ■  '    have  Put 

upon  you  burdens  too  grii  >be  borne.     And  if 

you  will  help  yourselves,  he-  will  help  you  to  escape 
from  your  bondage  into  ore  liberty! 

,;.iza    Voi  no. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

A  Saintly  Husband. — A  Wedding  and  a  Funeral. — The  Trio  Vic- 
torious.— "  It  Rejoices  Mother  Beyond  Measure." — "  I  Prefer 
to  Scratch  for  Myself  Now." — "I  am  Heart-Broken. " — The 
Black  Eye. — An  Eastern  Lady. — Four  Wives  and  Three  Beds. 
—  Sixteen  Children  Left. — Peculiar  Consolation. — Would  Visit 
His  Sick  Wife  Next  Sunday. — Would  not  Harmonize.  — Ar- 
raignment of  Polygamy  by  a  Victim. 

SHE  following  incidents,  illustrating  the  love- 
liness of  the  so-called  celestial  marriage 
system,  have  all  been  furnished  us  either  by 
the  participants  in  or  eye-witnesses  of  the 
scenes  they  describe.  We  do  not  venture 
any  comments,  but  simply  leave  our  readers 
to  judge  for  themselves  as  to  the  holiness  of 
this  divine  ordinance. 

In  a  settlement  not  many  miles  from  Salt  Lake 
City,  lives  a  bishop,  who  was  the  saintly  husband  of 
two  wives;  but  being  desirous  of  still  higher  celestial 
glory,  he  determined  to  add  another  to  his  kingdom, 
a  young  girl  of  seventeen  years  of  age,  whose  salva- 
tion he  wished  to  insure.  He  had  a  large  family  by 
each  of  his  other  v\  Lves,  and  his  youngest  child  was 
several  months  older  than  the  girl  he  intended 
making  his  third  wife.  She  did  not  object,  because 
(174) 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  175 

the  bishop  was  said  to  be  a  man  of  considerable 
means,  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  good  to  his 
family. 

During  the  courtship,  which  was  brief,  but  ex- 
ceedingly ardent,  his  legal  wife  was  taken  very  ill. 
Notwithstanding  that,  the  lover  and  bride  elect 
repaired  to  Salt  Lake  City,  and  were  sealed  in 
the  Endowment  House. 

When  they  returned  home  a  grand  feast  was 
made  in  honor  of  the  occasion.  Neighbors  and 
friends  were  bidden  from  near  and  far  to  do  honor 
to  the  event.  While  the  festivities  were  in  progress, 
one  blunt  old  lady  remarked,  "  Brother  B.,  does 
it  not  seem  a  little  out  of  place  to  have  this  affair 
while  sister  Jane  is  so  ill?  What  if  she  should  die!" 
"Well,  sister,"  was  the  reply  of  the  tender  husband, 
'■'it  is  rather  rough  on  Jane  that  she  can't  join 
us;  but  we  thought  best  to  have  the  wedding  now, 
because  if  Jane  should  die,  you  know  we  could  n't 
have  a  party  right  after  <>  funeral" 

The  poor  old  lady  died  a  few  days  afterward, 
and  the  husband  of  her  youth,  and  the  father  of 
her  ten  children,  was  present  neither  at  her  death 
nor  burial.  He  was  on  a  wedding  journey  with  his 
new  wife.  Her  last  words  were:  "An  eternity  of 
happiness  could  not  recompense  me  for  the  tortures 
I  have  endured  in  this  last  week,  to  say  nothing  of 
what  I  went  through  before,  in  twenty -five  years  of 
polygamy." 

The  daughter  of  this  woman  said  to  the  writer: 
"  Polygamy   is   responsible    for    the    death    of   my 


176  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

mother.  When  father  commenced  courting  that 
girl,  she  fell  ill,  and  she  was  struck  with  death  on 
the  evening  of  the  wedding  party."  And  yet  there 
are  people  who  profess  to  believe  that  this  system  lias 
been  ordered  by  God. 

The  next  incident  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of 
the  holy  and  benign  influences  with  which  the  ce- 
lestial system  surrounds  the  women,  and  shows  how 
sweet  and  heavenly  it  renders  their  dispositions. 

An  elder  who  had  three  wives  thought  it  his  duty 
to  take  a  fourth.  The  three  women  banded  to- 
oether,  and  determined  to  make  it  warm  for  their 
celestializing  spouse,  and  his  new  affinity  who  was 
a  stranger  in  Zion,  haying  come  in  by  a  recent  emi- 
gration. Their  first  act  Avas  to  secrete  all  the  eat- 
ables in  an  out-of-the-way  place,  so  that  when  the 
bride  and  groom  returned  to  the  house  after  the 
lone:  and  fatiu-uino-  ceremonies  at  the  Endowment 
House,  then;  was  no  supper  prepared  for  them,  nor 
the  slightest  indications  that  they  would  receive  any 
temporal  refreshment  whatever.  There  was  abso- 
lutely nothing  eatable  to  be  found  in  the  house, 
and  neither  Susan,  Mary,  nor  Eliza  could  be  coaxed 
or  threatened  to  produce  anything. 

At  last  the  baffled  husband  took  his  bride  to 
the  house  of  a  compassionate  neighbor,  who  regaled 
them  with  a  comfortable  meal,  and  with  whom  they 
spent  a  pleasant  evening,  not  going  home  until 
nearly  midnight.  Upon  arriving  there,  they  found 
the  doors  securely  barred,  and  no  amount  of  knock- 
ing could  get  them  opened.     After  vainly  endeavor- 


Miss  LYDIA  M.  TICHENOR, 

Chicago,  III. 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  177 

in-  to  obtain  entrance,  standing  in  the  pouring-  rain 
Wn-  nearly  half  an  hour,  they  repaired  again  to  their 
hospitable  neighbor,  who  provided  them  with  a 
shelter  for  that  night. 

The  next  day  the  elder  found  another  home  for 
his  voting  wife.  There  was  a  scene  in  that  family, 
it  raay.be  well  imagined;  but  the  old  man  promised 
to  forgive  the  indignity  offered  to  himself  and  bride, 
if  the  other  women  would  keep  it  quiet,  in  order  to 
avoid  a  scandal  in  Zion.  It  did  leak  out,  however, 
and  one  of  the  women  said,  in  the  hearing  of  the 
writer,  that  nothing  in  her  life  ever  gave  her  as 
much  satisfaction  as  the  fact  of  those  two  standing 
at  midnight  in  the  pouring  rain.  And  yet,  ordina- 
rily, this  woman  was  very  kind  hearted,  and  has 
been  known  to  do  numberless  humane  and  charitable 

deeds. 

Another  incident  of  the  same  order  comes  to  us 
from  a  source  whose  reliability  cannot  be  ques- 
tioned. 

A  very  prominent  member  of  the  Mormon  priest- 
hood, who  had  a  large  number  of  wives,  had  mar- 
ried a  young  girl  with  whom  he  was  completely 
infatuated,  and  who  embraced  every  occasion  for  ex- 
hibiting the  power  she  had  obtained  over  the  old 
gentleman.  His  other  wives  were  entirely  neg- 
lected, and  he  was  as  devoted  to  his  new  favorite  as 
a  youthful  lover  is  to  the  first  object  of  his  affec- 
tions. 

A  girl  companion  of  one  of  his  first  wife's  chil- 
dren said  to  her  one  day:  "Does  it  not  grieve  your 
12 


178  WOMEN  OF  M0RM0N1SM. 

mother  to  sec  your  father  paying  so  much  attention 
to  his  new  wife?  I  should  think  it  would  annoy  her 
exceedingly.  He  is  making  himself  the  town  talk 
on  account  of  that  girl." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  was  the  reply,  "  it  affords  her, 
as  well  as  the  other  wives,  the  greatest  delight. 
You  know  that  Emma  (another  plural  wife,  and 
former  favorite  of  the  old  man)  has  had  every- 
thing her  own  way,  and  been  father's  pet  and  idol 
for  years.  You  know  how  she  has  lorded  it  over 
the  other  women,  making  even  my  poor  old  mother 
stand  aside,  and  how  she  has  boasted  that  she  should 
never  be  superseded  in  his  affections.  But  she  is 
noiv  getting  her  turn.  It  rejoices  mother  beyond 
measure  to  know  that  she  is  now  experiencing  the 
tortures  that  she  has  made  others  suffer."  And  yet 
this  old  lady,  who  took  such  delight  in  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  other  "was  getting  her  turn,"  was  a 
Lovely  and  amiable  character  when  not  controlled 
by  the  pious  influences  of  the  divine  ordinance. 

There  was  a  certain  good  Saint  living  in  Zion,  who 
had  three  wives  already,  and  about  sixteen  children, 
but  he  felt  duty  urging  him  to  live  his  religion  to  a 
still  greater  extent,  and  to  enlarge  his  kingdom  still 
further ;  so  he  began  to  pay  his  addresses  to  a  youth- 
ful companion  of  one  of  his  daughters.  Although 
born  and  reared  in  polygamy,  she  had  no  particular 
desire  for  celestializing,  having  seen  enough  of  its 
effects.  Consequently  the  old  man's  advances  were 
not  received  with  the  warmth  he  desired. 

One  day,  while  endeavoring  to  gain  her  consent, 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  179 

and  speaking  of  the  advantages  of  the  divine  ordi- 
nance, she  met  him  with  the  question:  "Brother  M., 
you  are  not  a  rich  man;  you  do  not,  or  cannot,  pro- 
vide for  the  families  you  have  already;  how  do  you 
expect  to  support  any  more?" 

"Oh,"  was  the  reply,  "I  have  taken  care  of  the 
old  ones  long  enough;  they  must  now  do  like  the 
chickens,  turn  out  and  scratch  for  themselves." 

"Then  I  suppose  I  should  have  to  do  the  same 
thing  after  awhile,"  said  the  girl.  "I  prefer  to 
scratch  for  myself  voir." 

The  words  of  this  Saint  arc  characteristic  of  Mor- 
mon polygamy.  When  a  man  wants  new  wives, 
he  can  turn  the  old  ones  out  to  "scratch  for  them- 
selves." 

It  is  not  often  that  casual  observers  will  discern 
much  of  the  heartaches  and  jealousy  which  invari- 
ably exist  among  women  living  in  polygamy.  The 
greatest  pains  are  taken  to  preserve  an  appearance 
of  decorum,  and  conceal  the  unpleasant  features  of 
the  system  from  the  gaze  of  strangers ;  but  in  spite 
of  all  efforts,  they  will  sometimes  come  to  the  sur- 
face, so  that  even  they  who  run  may  read. 

We  saw,  not  long  ago,  in  the  waiting-room  of  a 
railroad  depot,  a  scene  that  was  enough  to  have 
chilled  the  heart  of  any  woman. 

A  man  who  had  three  wives  was  preparing  to 
take  a  journey,  accompanied  by  the  legal  wife  and 
one  of  the  plural  women.  The  latter  was  dressed 
in  gay  attire,  and  was  very  busily  coquetting 
around  him,  while  making  preparations  for  travel. 


180  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  IK. V. 

She  seemed  to  be  as  happy  as  a  bad  woman  can  be 
while  torturing-  some  rival  for  a  man's  attentions. 

Off  in  one  corner,  entirely  alone,  sat  a  lady  dressed 
in  plain  garb,  almost  presenting'  the  appearance  of 
mourning.  Her  close  watchfulness  of  all  that  was 
transpiring  between  the  man  and  his  concubine 
attracted  general  attention. 

We  knew  the  man  and  woman  she  was  so  closely 
watching,  and  it  did  not  take  even  strangers  long  to 
discern  the  situation.  Every  feature  of  her  counte- 
nance showed  suffering  and  blasted  hopes.  Tears 
were  coursing  their  way  down  the  furrows  in  her 
faded  cheeks,  which  had  once  been  as  fresh  as  rose- 
leaves.  She  was  the  first  wife,  who  had  been  rol  >1  ><  ■<  I 
of  the  affections  of  a  once  kind  and  loving  husband. 

His  own  passions  and  the  counseling  of  the 
priesthood  had  driven  him  into  polygamy,  and  this 
first  wife  was  living  such  a  life  of  torture  that 
her  every  look  and  action  said  to  the  world,  "I 
am  heart-broken." 

The  long  journey  she  was  going  to  take  with  her 
recreant  husband,  had  few  if  any  bright  prospects 
for  her,  while  the  happiness  of  the  other  woman 
seemed  only  to  be  inspired  by  jealousy  and  gratifica- 
tion in  her  success  as  a  rival.  And  yet  there  are 
people  who  will  assert  positively  that  the  women  are 
happy  and  contented  in  polygamy ! 

The  following  anecdote  was  related  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Anti-Polygamy  Society,  by  one  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  the  lady  to  whom  it  refers  is  the  wife 
of  one  of  those  good  brethren  who  delight  in  preach- 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  181 

ing  about  the  divine  ordinance,  and  who  will  inform 
credulous  strangers  that  "nowhere  on  the  earth  is 
woman  so  highly  honored  and  so  tenderly  cared  for 
as  among  the  Mormons." 

"  A  neighbor  of  mine,  the  first  wife  of  a  promi- 
nent Mormon,  living  at  present  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
came  into  my  house  some  little  time  ago  with  her 
otherwise  handsome  and  intelligent  face  sadly 
marred  by  a  black  eye.  Being  aware  that  the  celes- 
tial order  of  marriage  sometimes  occasions  peculiar 
occurrences  in  the  household,  we  refrained  from 
making  any  allusion  to  the  disfigurement  until  she 
apologized  for  it,  saying,  '  This  is  one  of  the  fruits  of 
our  holy  religion.' 

"  We  asked  for  an  explanation,  which  was  given 
in  the  following  words:  '  You  know  that  my  husband 
has  lately  married  my  servant  girl,  and  they  are 
1  lilling  and  cooing  like  young  turtle-doves.  Nothing 
in  the  house  is  good  enough  for  her,  and  I  have 
so  far  forgotten  my  duties  as  a  Mormon  wife  as 
to  be  unwilling  to  recognize  her  as  the  entire 
mistress  of  the  house,  which,  as  it  happens,  is  mine, 
and  not  my  husband's.  It  and  everything  in  it  was 
given  me  by  my  father.  Yesterday  she  graciously 
informed  me  that  if  I  behaved  myself  I  might 
remain,  otherwise  she  would  turn  me  out  of  the 
house.  Unfortunately  I  had  the  audacity  to  resent 
this  remark,  and  was  commencing  to  give  her  a  dose 
of  her  own  medicine  by  putting  some  of  her  things 
out  of  doors,  when  my  husband  came  home.  For 
this  exhibition    of  a  wrong  spirit,  he    whipped  me 


182  WOMEN  OF  MORMONTSM. 

severely,  leaving  the  marks  you  see,  and  upon 
leaving  the  room  he  remarked,  'I  am  determined 
to  live  my  religion  if  it  kills  us  all.'" 

An  Eastern  lady  who  was  visiting  Zion  a  short 
time  ago  was  captured,  so  to  speak,  by  a  female 
apostle  of  polygamy,  who  assured  our  Eastern  friend 
that  the  women  living  in  the  celestial  ordinance 
were  perfectly  happy;  that  they  would  not  ex- 
change their  fraction  of  a  saintly  husband  for  the 
undivided  affection  of  the  best  sinner  that  ever 
lived;  that  the  children  born  in  plurality  were  equal 
or  superior  to  those  of  monogainic  origin;  and  in 
short,  that  all  the  statements  which  have  been  pub- 
lished in  regard  to  the  beastliness  and  brutality  of 
polygamy  were  base  fabrications,  invented  by  vile 
apostates  or  wicked  Gentiles. 

Our  traveler  would  have  left  Zion  with  very  vague 
and  unsatisfactory  ideas,  as  all  she  had  read  pre- 
viously about  the  institution  was  so  entirely  at 
variance  with  what  she  heard  from  the  polygamic 
sister,  had  she  not  met  accidentally  a  member  of  the 
Anti-Polygamy  Society,  who  exhibited  to  her  gaze 
the  other  side  of  the  picture. 

She  introduced  her  to  some  women  whose  happi- 
ness had  been  blasted,  their  lives  blighted,  and  their 
homes  ruined,  by  the  infernal  doctrine.  Of  course, 
much  that  she  was  told  seemed  incredible, — so  incom- 
patible with  her  ideas  of  modesty  and  decency,  let 
alone  religion,  -especially  the  factsof  consanguineous 
marriages,  and  two  or  more  women  living  with  the 
same  man,  and  raising  children  to  him  in  a  house  of 
one  or  two  rooms. 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  183 

We   do   not  wonder   that   decent  people  cannot 
believe  that such  things  exist  in  a  Christian  land.    But 
an  incident  occurred  not  very  long  ago  which  illus- 
trates this  peculiar  beauty  of  the  polygamic  system. 
Three  young  men,  pleasure  seekers,  left  one  of  our 
cities  for  a  fishing  tour  in  one  of  the  valleys  of  the 
mountains.     After  being  out  a  few  days,  one  of  the 
number  was  taken  ill,  and  as  a  severe  storm  was 
evidently  approaching,  they  went  to  a  small  settle- 
ment near  by,  ami. asked  for  shelter  in  a  small  house 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  plaee.      They  found  that  the 
house  contained  only  one  room,  and  that  not  verj 
inviting,   and  from   all  appearances   there  were   as 
many  occupants  for  the  three  beds  as  Serepta  Smith 
had  when  her  house  was  invaded  by  church  dele- 
gates,  as  related  by  Josiah  Allen's  wife,  in  one  of 
her  books. 

Our  tourists  would  fain  have  sought  more  com- 
fortable, quarters,  but  the  invalid  could  go  no  further 
without  endangering  his  life.  One  of  them  staid  in 
the  house  to  nurse  his  friend,  while,  the  other  slept 
outside  in  their  traveling  wagon. 

They  soon  discovered  who  were  the  occupants  of 
the  cabin,  and  they  were  indeed  a  saintly  crew.  A 
man,  his  three  wives  ami  their  families,  had  been 
living  there  for  a  number  of  years.  One  of  the 
women  apologized  for  being  just  then  a  little  more 
crowded  than  usual,  because  that  day  the  old  man 
had  broughthome  a  young  bride,  which  rather  con- 
tracted their-  accommodations  for  strangers. 

If  some  of  our  Eastern  doubters  could  step  in  and 


184  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

spend  the  night  in  one  of  these  hotels,  we  think 
their  doubts  would  be  set  at  rest  forever  in  regard  to 
the  beauty  of  polygamy. 

A  life  of  only  a  few  years  in  Utah  is  enough  to 
give  the  observer,  unless  he  deliberately  closes  his 
eyes  and  ears,  a  knowledge  of  tilings  which,  were  it 
possible  to  fully  portray  them  to  the  world,  would 
shock  and  raise  the  indignation  of  all  decent  people. 

A  prominent  member  of  the  Anti-Polygamy 
Society  is  responsible  for  the  following  anecdote, 
which  is  a  single  illustration  of  how  utterly  destruc- 
tive polygamy  is  to  the  sacred  relation  of  family, 
and  how  the  hydra-headed  monster  outrages  all  'the 
holiest  feelings  of  the  human  heart: — 

"There  is  a  neighbor  of  mine,  a  good  elder,  who 
lives  his  religion  to  the  extent  of  having  six  wives. 
He  bears  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  man,  a 
warm  friend,  and  an  obliging  neighbor,  and  about 
as  just  in  the  treatment  of  his  numerous  families  as 
it  is  possible  to  be.  He  does  not  pretend  to  support 
them  all,  for  he  is  not  rich  by  any  means,  but  he 
tries  to  give  them  facilities  \f or  contributing  to  their 
own  support. 

"One  wife  has  cows,  and  sells  milk  and  butter. 
Another  has  a  machine,  and  takes  in  sewing;  while 
the  daughters  from  the  age  of  twelve  and  upwards 
have  always  helped  to  earn  their  own  living. 

"  His  legal  wife  is  a  superior  woman,  and  her  large 
family  has  been  very  well  brought  up,  being  ex- 
ceptionally well  behaved  for  Mormon  children. 
Shi'  has  taken  great  pains  to   instruct  them  herself, 


'      1 1  '  'I'll 


:         il   ' 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  185 

and  worked  very  hard  to  afford  them  a  few  more 
educational  advantages  than  are  enjoyed  by  the 
majority  of  children  in  Utah. 

"A  short  time  ago,  sickness  and  death  visited  the 
household,  taking  away  two  little  ones  belonging  to 
the  legal  wife,  and  leaving  the  other  parts  of  the 
family  unscathed.  It  was  not  said  of  her,  as  I  have 
known  it  to  be  in  other  instances,  that  the  affliction 
was  sent  because  she  opposed  the  will  of  the  Lord; 
for  I  have  never  known  a  woman  in  all  my  Mormon 
experience  that  was  so  patient  in  bearing  the  cross 
imposed  by  polygamy  as  was  this  lovely  and  devoted 
wife.  And  though  sometimes  the  load  was  almost 
too  heavy  to  be  borne,  yet  she  never  complained  or 
murmured,  but  strove  to  think  that  it  was  the  will 
of  her  Heavenly  Father  that  she  should  bear  it. 

"I  had  been  the  recipient  of  many  neighborly 
kindnesses  from  both  the  elder  and  his  wife,  since  I 
left  the  church,  as  well  as  in  former  days,  but  I  was 
prevented  by  illness  in  my  own  household  from  go- 
ing to  see  them  during  the  days  of  their  affliction. 
Winn  I  did  go,  the  poor  woman  was  so  prostrated 
by  sorrow  and  fatigue  that  she  was  unable  to  be 
seen. 

"  I  offered  a  few  words  of  condolence  to  her 
husband,  asking  him  to  convey  my  warmest  sym- 
pathies to  his  heart-broken  wife.  He  thanked  me 
for  my  kindness,  and  then  said,  'My  poor  wife  is 
indeed  bowed  down  to  the  earth  with  grief;  but  it  is 
not  so  bad  for  me,  for  you  know,  Mrs.  D.,  I  still 
have  sixteen  children  by  f/"'  other  women! 


186  WOMEN  OF  M0EM0NI8M. 

These  lines  will  in  all  probability  be  road  by  many 
mothers  of  dearly  loved  children.  Can  one  of  you 
imagine  yourself  weeping  over  the  cold  form  or  the 
newly  made  grave  of  one  of  those  idolized  little  ones, 
and  think  of  your  husband  consoling  himself  with 
the  idea  that  your  loss  does  not  affect  him  very 
much!'  he  can  soon  forget  it  because  there  are  so 
many  more  children  left  him  by  his  other  women! 

Apropos  of  this  same  phase  of  the  subject,  there 
was  a  funeral  in  one  of  the  principal  towns  in  Utah 
a  few  months  ago,  the  object  of  mourning-  being  the 
only  wife  of  a  brother  in  the  church.  Five  sainth 
polygamists  officiated  at  the  obsequies,  and  all  ex- 
alted the  principles  of  the  Latter-day  church,  and 
particularly  descanted  upon  the  loveliness  of  polyg- 
amy. One  old  Saint,  avIig  was  the  husband  of  five 
wives,  eulogized  the  departed  sister  and  deplored  the 
loss  of  the  good  brother  in  being  obliged  to  part  from 
the  faithful  companion  of  his  youth,  and  then  said: 
"  We  should  sympathize  with  him  more  deeply  than 
with  many  others,  for  he  has  lost  his  OttZ^  companion. 
If  I  should  lose  one  of  my  companions,  T  should  still 
have  several  left  to  console  and  comfort  me." 

Oh,  what  a  consolation  to  tender  the  bereaved 
heart  in  such  an  hour  as  this!  But  each  of  the 
other  speakers  went  over  the  same  ground,  and  gave 
no  greater  consolation  than  that  the  brother  had 
been  very  foolish  in  not  having  several  wives,  so  his 
loss  would  not  now  be  that  of  the  solitary  one. 

Another  incident,  which  was  related  to  us  by  the 
daughter  of   the   woman  in  question,  shows  how 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  187 

impossible,  under  this  cruel  system,  is  that  mutual 
sympathy  and  affection  which  should  exist-  between 
husband  and  wife. 

"My  mother  was  quite  ill  atone  time,  and  I  being 
the  eldest  daughter  took  care  of  her.  I  did  the  best 
I  could  for  her  according  to  the  suggestions  of 
Friends,  for  we  were  not  permitted  to  call  a  doctor. 
Father  used  to  spend  a  week  in  turn  with  each 
of  his  wives,  and  when  mother  was  taken  sick,  which 
was  quite  suddenly,  her  week  was  just  over,  and  he 
was  in  the  next  house  staying  with  another  woman. 

"After  a  day  or  two,  I  became  alarmed,  and  went 
in  there,  and  told  him  I  thought  mother  was  very  ill 
and  needed  more  skillful  attention  than  I  was  able  to 
give  her.  I  asked  him  if  he  would  not  come  in  and 
see  her  awhile.  Before  he  could  reply,  the  other 
woman  answered  me  very  sharply,  saying  mother 
had  her  turn  the  week  before,  and  should  be  satisfied 
with  what  was  right. 

"Not  noticing  her  remarks  at  all.  I  said,  'Father, 
mother  feels  very  badly  indeed  this  evening,  and 
would  like  to  see.  you  particularly.  Could  you  not 
come  in  and  sit  with  her  for  half  an  hour?  It 
would  cheer  her  up,  and  do  her  so  much  good.' 

"  'Ican'tdoit,  Lucy,' he  answered, '  because  1  have 
promised  certain  to  go  with  Mary  here  to  the  ward- 
party  to-night.  You  take  good  care  of  her,  and  if 
she  is  not  feeling  better  in  the  morning,  let  me  know, 
and  I  will  have  the  bishop  go  in  and  lay  hands  on 
her.  Tell  her,  I'll  try  to  drop  in  on  Sunday  after 
meeting  is  over.' 


188  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

"  Mother  might  have  died  a  half  dozen  times  over 
before  Sunday;  and  I  was  so  indignant  at  his  care- 
lessness that  had  I  been  sure  she  would  die  the  next 
minute  I  would  neither  have  gone  after  him  nor 
allowed  him  to  be  sent  for.  He  did  come  in  on 
Sunday,  but  fortunately  mother  was  so  much  better 
by  that  time  that  she  did  not  care  to  see  him,  and 
treated  him  very  coolly. 

"He  always  professed  to  think  a  great  deal  of 
mother,  but  could  not  pay  her  the  slightest  extra 
attention  without  getting  into  trouble  with  the  other 
women.  I  tell  you  that  polygamy  is  the  most 
heartless  and  love-destroying  system  that  could  ever 
have  been  invented.  I  was  brought  up  in  it,  but 
would  rather,  a  thousand  times,  lay  a  daughter  of 
my  own  in  the  grave  than  see  her  enter  it." 

The  following  is  another  illustration  of  the  sweet 
unity  and  delightful  family  relations  which  are 
characteristic  of  the  divine  ordinance: — 

A  certain  elder  in  Israel  desired  to  build  up  a 
celestial  kingdom  after  the  divinely  ordained  plan, 
and  married  a  young  widow,  against  the  wishes  of 
his  wife,  who  had  no  belief  in  polygamy.  She  did 
not  possess  that  first  requisite  in  a  Mormon  woman, 
"a  submissive  spirit;  "  ami  having  no  other  method 
of  redress,  she  sought  revenge  by  the  Only    menus  in 

her   power — by    tormenting  her   husband    and   his 
second  wife  in  all  possible  ways. 

He  was  determined  that  the  two  should  live  to- 
gether, as  he  could  not.  or  would  not  build  another 
house.     But  alas  for  the  celestial  doctrine!    what- 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  189 

c\cr  advantages  it  might  bring  in  the  future,  he 
soon  found  from  sad  experience  that  it  gave  no 
happiness  here.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  one 
moment's  peace  in  the  house.  He  had  heard  it  said 
frequently  by  the  high-priests,  that  if  a  man  could 
not  rule  Ins  earthly  kingdom,  he  would  never  be 
fitted  to  be  a  king  in  the  world  to  come.  As  he 
was  very  ambitious  for  regal  honors,  he  was  in 
great  grief,  and  much  perplexed,  how  to  govern 
two  unruly,  contentious,  and  exasperated  women. 

After  awhile  he  found  that  he  must  separate 
them.  So  he  gave  each  her  own  apartments.  This 
did  not  mend  matters  at  all,  but  rather  made  them 
worse.  For  he  could  not  divide  his  time  between 
them  to  the  satisfaction  of  either,  or  to  his  own  con- 
venience. 

His  business  demanded  his  presence  at  his  store 
at  certain  hours.  It  would  suit  Mary  to  have  meals 
ready  only  at  those  hours,  and  perhaps  Jane  would 
take  it  into  her  head  to  be  as  contrary  as  Mary. 
Then,  in  addition,  each  one  seemed  angry  and 
jealous  when  he  was  with  the  other,  yet  during  her 
own  time  made  him  as  miserable  as  possible  with 
her  jealousy  and  recriminations. 

While  he  was  with  one,  the  other  would  fre- 
quently apply  her  ear  to  the  key-hole  of  her  rival's 
apartment,  to  discover  what  was  passing.  When 
the  first  wife  was  too  busy  to  attend  the  key-hole 
herself,  she  would  place  there  her  little  six-year-old 
daughter,  and  tell  her  to  repeat  what  she  had  heard. 
Of  course  the  child  told  the  most  ridiculous  stories, 


190  WOMEN   OF  MJ0RMONISM. 

which  the  mother  affected  to  believe,  and  repeated 
to  the  husband  when  he  next  visited  her.  All  this 
was  the  cause  of  the  most  bitter  quarrels. 

As  soon  as  possible,  the  husband  built  a  second 
house  a  few  rods  distant,  in  which  he  installed  his 
second  wife.  But  the  two  women  could  never  come 
even  within  speaking  distance  of  each  other  without 
having  a  quarrel,  which  often  ended  in  personal 
violence,  blows  being  exchanged,  hair  pulled,  and 
dresses  torn  in  the  struggles.  At  last,  after  running 
away  himself,  and  coming  back  on  account  of  his 
children  whom  he  dearly  loved,  he  was  obliged  to 
divorce  number  two,  when  peace  was  again,  restored 
to  his  earthly  home,  although  at  the  expense  of  his 
heavenly  kingdom. 

This  incident  shows  how  completely  polygamy 
has  demoralized  the  women,  and  rendered  them 
fiendish  in  their  dispositions.  Both  the  women  in 
question  were  good  enough  by  themselves,  and  cal- 
culated to  make  loving,  tender  wives ;  but  the  ac- 
cursed system  brought,  as  it  always  does,  the  very 
worst  passions  to  the  surface,  and  made  each  of 
them  a  demon  who  found  delight  in  tormenting 
her  husband  and  torturing  her  rival. 

These  incidents  could  be  multipled  by  hundreds, 
yes,  by  thousands,  and  yet  the  truth  would  not  half 
be  told.  There  are  incidents  of  almost  daily  occur- 
rence that  could  not  be  repeated,  or  if  they  could, 
would  scarcely  seem  credible,  they  are  so  revolting 
to  every  sense  of  modesty  and  decency. 

Before  concluding  this  chapter  on  the  "  Beauties 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  191 

of  Polygamy,"  we  submit  the  following-  arraign- 
ment of  the  system,  by  a  lady  who  was  a  Mormon 
for  nearly  a  score  of  years,  had  a  large  acquaintance 

with  all  classes  of  polygamous  families,  both  rich 
and  poor,  and  was  in  every  way  competent  to  pass 
judgment  on  the  institution: — 

"Mormon  polygamy  is  characterized  by  deceit 
and  treachery.  Men  will  break,  without  the  slight- 
est compunction,  the  most  solemn  vows  that  man 
can  pledge  to  woman.  They  will  take  other  wives 
clandestinely,  and  then  excuse  their  duplicity  by 
saying  they  did  it  to  avoid  a  row  or  a  scandal;  or 
they  were  afraid  their  wives  would  not  consent  to 
tl if'n-  taking  more  women;  but  when  it  was  done, 
they  could  not  help  themselves,  and  would  be  obliged 
to  submit  and  accept  the  situation.  I  could  myself 
mention  fifty  instances  of  the  meanest  kind  of 
treachery  whose  terrible  results  upon  the  innocent, 
trustful  victims,  are  seen  in  the  insane  asylum,  or 
the  grave. 

"  Mormon  polygamy  is  characterized  by  oppres- 
sion and  tyranny.  The  worst  evils  of  negro  slavery 
had  no  parallel  with  some  of  the  evils  of  this  nefari- 
ous doctrine.  A  Mormon  not  only  counts  himself 
the  possessor  and  master  of  his  women  bodily,  but 
he  is  also  the  self -constituted  owner  of  their  souls. 
I  have  known  cases  where  men  have  kept  their 
wives  in  a  constant  state  of  anxiety  and  torment, 
and  rendered  their  lives  more  miserable  than  can  be 
expressed,  by  the  simple  intimation,  'If  you  won't 
be  submissive,  I  will  get  a  woman  who  will  1 '     It 


192  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

can  easily  be  seen  how  this  threat,  hanging  con- 
stantly over  a  woman's  head,  terrifies  her,  until 
womanhood  is  gone,  and  she  consents  to  anything 
but  the  loss  of  her  husband,  and  the  breaking  up  of 
her  already  none  too  peaceful  home. 

"Then  again  there  are  men  who  will  make  a 
show  of  gaining  the  consent  of  their  wives  to 
take  other  women,  but  this  is  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  done:  A  Saint  becomes  acquainted  with  a 
woman  or  girl  that  attracts  his  fancy,  and  he  im- 
mediately is  tilled  with  the  spirit  of  the  Lord.  It 
is  wonderful  how  pious  and  devoted  to  religion  a 
man  becomes,  and  how  eager  he  is  to  dolus  Master's 
bidding  in  such  a  case.  He  then  informs  his  wife 
that  duty  urges  him  to  live  up  to  his  privileges  and 
build  up  his  kingdom. 

"  If  she  objects,  or  is  in  any  way  opposed  to  this 
phase  of  duty,  he  will  say,  '  Do  as  you  please,  con- 
sent or  not,  it  will  make  no  difference  to  me;  but  if 
you  do  not,  you  may  take  your  children  and  go 
where  you  please.  You  are  probably  aware  that 
you  have  no  rights  at  all  in  this  Territory.  But 
behave  yourself,  consent  quietly  and  make  no  scan- 
dal, and  I  will  continue  to  support  you.' 

"Cases  have  come  to  my  own  knowledge  where 
first  wives  have  invited  young  girls  to  tea,  and 
entertained  them  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  all  for 
the  sake  of  getting  from  their  husbands  a  few  nec- 
essaries, a  few  yards  of  flannel,  or  two  or  three 
pans  of  shoes  for  their  little  children ;  and  perhaps 
that  very  same  girl  wo\ild  soon  be  brought  home  as 
wife  number  two. 


BEAUTIES  OF  POLYGAMY.  193 

"  Mormon  polygamy  is  characterized  by  brutality. 
Incidents  have  come  to  the  knowledge  of  almost 
every  Gentile  lady  who  has  lived  for  any  length 
of  time  in  this  Territory,  and  who  has  manifested 
the  least  interest  in  investigating  the  system,  which 
prove  that  the  most  cold-blooded  brutality  and 
cruelty  are  everywhere  characteristic  of  polygamy  as 
it  exists  in  Utah.  The  traditions  of  every  settle- 
ment, of  almost  every  household,  could  substantiate 
this  assertion.  The  cemeteries  of  Utah  are  peopled 
with  women  who  have  died  prematurely,  and  too 
often  on  account  of  physical  violence.  A  woman's 
health,  and  even  life,  are  not  weighed  in  the  balance 
against  the  polygamist's  desires  which  he  calls  the 
will  of  the  Lord. 

"Mormon  polygamy  is  characterized  also  by  im- 
morality and  licentiousness.  It  is  a  notorious  fact, 
and  a  refutation  is  challenged  from  any  source,  that 
the  Mormon  youth  and  children  are  precocious  in 
wickedness  to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  are  entirely 
lacking  in  that  simplicity  and  innocence  which  is  an 
attribute  of  children  almost  the  world  over.  Some 
of  these  children,  almost  from  infancy,  develop  the 
lowest  and  most  depraved  tastes,  and  are  familiar 
with  the  vilest  of  practices. 

"  Such  relations  cannot  help  blunting  the  moral 
sense,  and  destroying  every  vestige  of  womanly 
modesty  and  refinement. 

"  How  can  a  wife  have  those  holy  and  tender 
feelings  which  should  always  be  associated  with  the 
marriage  tie,  and. which  are  inseparable  from  a  true 
13 


194  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

union,  when  she  can  speak,  and  to  all  appearances 
calmly,  of  her  husband's  having  'gone  to  stay  with 
sonic  of  the  other  women'? 

"  What  ideas  of  home  love  and  home  associations 
can  children  have  who  talk  about  'father's  week  at 
the  other  house,'  and  who  discuss  freely  whit  b 
woman  is  his  favorite,  and  why  she  is  so,  and  which 
woman's  children  he  is  most  indulgent  to,  and  pro- 
vides for  the  best? 

"  There  are  many  good  Mormons  who  pretend  to 
have  no  doubt  as  to  the  .divine  origin  of  polygamy, 
who  are  free  to  admit  that  the  experiment  has  proved 
a  failure  in  tins  day  and  generation,  and  who 
acknowledge  that  the  majority  of  men  only  enter 
it  from  licentious  motives,  and  have  no  religious 
convictions  whatever. 

"  .During  the  twenty  years  that  I  was  a  Mormon, 
I  have  known  a  few  men  who  embraced  the  system 
from  pure  motives;  but  a  large  majority  went  into 
it  from  pure  wickedness.  And  I  assert  without  any 
hesitation  that  polygamy  is  solely  and  entirely 
responsible  for  the  corruption  of  our  youth,  the  lax 
moral  principle,  the  indecency  and  shameless  prac- 
tices that  prevail  all  over  Utah  Territory." 

But  in  the  following  chapter  the  results  of  the 
system  upon  the  children  of  Mormonism  will  be 
dwelt  upon  more  particularly. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Aifects  Unborn  Generations. — Foung  Girls. — Remarkable  State- 
ment. — Testimony  of  Stenhouse. — House  of  Correction. — An 
Apostle's  Son.— A  Bishop's  Hopeful  Heir. — Taylor's  Refusal. 
— uPoor  Boy." — Unfortunate  Girl. — •'.Surprised  that  They 
Lived  together  so  Long." — Fifty  Children  in  the  Cemetery. 
— .Joseph  Smith's  Son. — "Queen  of  the  Harem." 

previous  chapter  it  was  asserted  that 
the  Mormon  children  and  youth  are  extraor- 
dinarily precocious  in  evil,  and  that  they 
grow  to  manhood  and  womanhood  without 
being  taught  the  common  decencies  of  life, 
to  say  nothing  of  its  refinements.  This  is  due 
to  several  causes,  each  and  all  of  which  have  their 
origin  in  polygamy. 

This  phase  of  the  subject  is  one  that  it  is  difficult 
to  deal  with,  because  every  feature  of  it  is  so  repug- 
nant; yet  it  is  one  which  needs  to  be  exposed  as 
fully  as  possible.  If  the  wrongs  and  evils  of  polyg- 
amy affected  only  its  present  victims,  there  might  be 
Some  excuse  for  letting  it  die  a  natural  death;  but  it 
is  entailing  wrongs  that  will  blast  thousands  of 
lives,  and  giving  to  avast  multitude  of  children  still 
unborn  a  heritage  of  woe  and  crime.  And  it  is  no 
less  for  the  sake  of  these  unborn  thousands  than  for 

(195) 


196  WOMEN  OF  M0RM0NI8M. 

its  present  victims  that  we  plead  for  measures  which 
shall  tend  to  check  the  abomination. 

It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  ninety  per  cent  of  these 
unholy  alliances  are  contracted  when  the  former 
wives  are  in  that  condition  which  most  craves  a 
husband's  tender  care  and  -sympathy.  It  is  not  an 
uncommon  occurrence  for  a  wife  to  be  near  the  hour 
of  trial  when  the  husband  is  off  on  a  honeymoon 
with  another  woman.  The  inevitable  mourning  for 
the  loss  of  her  husband,  the  longing  for  his  society, 
and  hatred  of  the  other  .wife,  exercise  the  most 
deleterious  influences  upon  the  moral  faculties  of  the 
children. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  wife  under  these  cir- 
cumstances will  resort  to  the  use  of  stimulants  or 
potent  drugs  in  order  to  drown  her  sorrows,  and  f i  >r 
the  time  being  render  her  oblivious  to  her  own  grief, 
or  the  triumphs  of  her  rival.  Tastes  and  predilec- 
tions are  thus  imbibed  and  acquired  by  children, 
which  often  result  in  their  early  ruin.  That  these 
are  not  mere  baseless  assertions  can  be  proven  by  the 
history  of  some  leading  polygamous  families  in 
Utah, — families  whose  wealth  and  position,  it  might 
be  thought,  would  keep  them  exempt  from  the  vices 
of  the  poorer  and  more  degraded  classes. 

One  of  the  effects  of  polygamy  is  that  young  girls 
brought  up  in  the  system  do  not  think  it  a  possible 
thing  for  a  wife  to  be  the  only  mistress  of  a  pure  and 
happy  home,  and  the  only  recipient  of  a  true  and 
honorable  husband's  devotion.  They  have  been 
taught  that  a  man  who  does  not  have  plural  wives 


EFFECTS   OF  rOLYGAMY.  197 

must  keep  mistresses,  and  as  they  have  always  heard 
polygamy  compared  with  the  social  evil,  they  soon 
learn  to  place  the  two  systems  on  the  same  level. 
And  as  a  consequence,  girls  who  have  seen  the  utter 
misery  produced  l>y  the  one  system  do  not  hesitate 
about  embracing  the  other  in  preference.  There  is  a 
certain  noted  woman  in  Salt  Lake  City,  who 
declares  that  during  her  residence  there,  she  has 
refused  admission  to  hundreds  of  young  Mormon 
girls  who  would  lead  voluntary  lives  of  shame. 

One  of  the  reasons  given  by  the  apostles  of  polyg- 
amy for  its  acceptance  is,  that  its  practice  will  re- 
deem tin-  race  from  the  many  evils  which  are 
prevalent  in  modern  society;  that  it  respects  the 
desires  of  every  woman  to  be  an  honorable  wife  and 
mother,  and  leaves  no  unmarried  element  to  go 
astray. 

In  a  recent  newspaper  article,  one  of  the  Mor- 
mon leaders  made  the  remarkable  statement  that 
the  Mormons  held  chastity  in  man  as  a  virtue  that 
should  be  maintained  as  rigidly  as  in  woman,  and 
that  it  should  be  valued  and  cherished  in  both  sexes 
as  more  precious  than  life  itself.  We  repeat,  a  "re- 
markable statement,"  because  none  knew  its  falsity 
better  than  the  man  who  made  it;  and  it  was  made 
for  the  express  purpose  of  deceiving  those  people  who 
were  inclined  to  favor  legislation  against  Mormon 
polygamy.  But  let  us  see  if  the  history  of  Mor- 
monism  will  bear  out  any  of  these  specious  reasons 
given  for  the  practice  of  the  peculiar  institution. 

Stenhouse,  who  was  a  Mormon  for  twenty  years 


198  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  MM. 

or  more,  and  whose  "  Rocky  Mountain  Saints "  is 
admitted  by  the  most  bigoted  Mormons  to  be  a  true 
and  impartial  history  of  their  sect,  says,  in  speaking 
of  the  early  days  of  Mormonism :  "  Even  at  this  time 
a  few  of  the  new  converts  appear  to  have  exhibited 
loose  notions  of  morality.  Of  these,  some  charged 
with  being-  adulterers  and  adulteresses  were  stated 
to  have  been  turned  away,  and  others  were  warned 
to  beware  and  repent  speedily." 

He  further  says:  "All  through  the  history  of 
the  church,  during  the  lifetime  of  Joseph  Smith, 
may  be  noticed  a  disposition  to  free-loveism."  These 
statements  are  very  mild  compared  with  those  of 
other  authors,  but  we  do  not  think  they  prove  very 
conclusively  that  this  virtue  was  rigidly  observed  in 
the  early  days  of  the  church. 

To  show  that  the  morals  of  the  Saints  had  not 
improved  very  radically  in  the  days  of  the  prophel 
Brigham,  we  will  quote  again  from  Stenhouse,  in 
regard  to  the  famous  (or  infamous)  "  Reformation  " 
in  Utah.  It  is  recorded  that  "on  one  occasion,  a 
public  meeting  was  called  at  the  Social  Hall,  which 
was  very  largely  attended  by  the  priesthood  or  male 
members  only.  Brigham  Young,  HeberC.  Kimball, 
and  others,  addressed  tin'  elders.  Brigham,  in  his 
speech,  requested  all  present  who  had  been  unfaith- 
ful to  their  marriage  vows  to  stand  up.  To  the  sur- 
prise of  some,  and  the  chagrin  of  the  presidency, 
more  than  three-fourths  stood  on  their  feet.  It  is 
related  that  Brigham  was  as  much  appalled  at  this 
sight  as  was  Macbeth  when  he  beheld  the  woods  of 


EFFECTS  ■  OF  POLYGAMY.  199 

Birnani  inarching  on  to  Dunsinane.  A  bishop 
arose  and  asked  if  there  was  not  some  misunder- 
standing among  the  brethren  concerning  the  ques- 
tion. He  thought  that  perhaps  the  elders  under- 
stood Brigham's  inquiry  to  apply  to  then-  conduct 
before  they  had  thrown  oft"  the  works  of  the  devil 
and  embraced  Mormonism;  but  upon  Brigham's 
reiterating  that  he  referred  to  sins  committed  since 
they  had  entered  the  church,  the  brethren  to  a  man 
still  stood  up.  Brigham  had  evoked  a  specter  that 
he  little  expected.  Of  course,  no  women  being  pres- 
ent, the  men  only  answered  for  themselves — the  in- 
ference had  to  be  imagined  about  the  other  sex." 

Now,  in  order  to  prove  that  the  status  of  morality 
is  no  higher  at  the  present  day,  especially  among 
the  children  and  youth,  we  need  only  give  the 
testimony  of  the  Mormons  themselves. 

One  of  thi-  church  organs  lias  made  the  depravity 
of  tin;  youth  of  this  Territory,  the  subject  of  more 
than  one  leader  during  t\\^  past  year,  and  has 
strongly  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  House 
of  Correction,  or  some  similar  institution,  where 
children  might  be  placed  for  reformation.  For 
whose  children?  it  may  be  asked.  Certainly  not 
for  those  of  the  Gentiles;  for  there  are  comparatively 
very  few  families  among  the  Gentile  residents,  the 
bulk  of  that  class  of  the  population  being  miners, 
ami  men  who  have  no  families. 

It  is  a  source  of  constant  complaint  among  those 
who  have  children,  that  with  all  their  care,  they  can 
scarcely  prevent  them  from  coining  in  contact  with 


200  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

the  accursed  influences  that  surround  the  rising 
generation  of  Mormons.  What  some  of  these  influ- 
ences are  may  be  imagined  when  it  is  known  that 
the  bishops  of  many  settlements  have  been  com- 
plaining to  the  priesthood  that  a  large  majority  of 
the  marriages  contracted  between  young  persons 
during  the  past  few  years  have  occurred  under 
compulsion,  because  circumstances  obliged  the  bride's 
honor  to  be  vindicated. 

The  bishop  of  one  settlement  not  very  remote 
from  Salt  Lake  is  the  authority  for  the  statement 
that  in  one  year  more  than  twenty  illegitimate 
children  were  born  (outside  of  polygamy),  and  not 
one  Gentile  in  the  place.  The  Mormons  "are  wont  to 
say  that  it  was  the  Gentiles  who  brought  all  social 
irregularities  into  Zion,  but  this  instance  is  at  least 
one.  refutation  of  that  assertion. 

Not  many  months  ago,  a  son  of  that  selfsame 
apostle  who  pays  such  high  tribute  to  the  virtue  of 
this  people,  was  compelled  to  leave  his  home  in  one 
of  the  Northern  settlements  of  Utah  for  a  flagrant 
breach  of  social  decorum.  He  had  a  nice  young 
wife,  and  a  baby  only  a  few  months  old;  but  this  did 
not  prevent  him  from  indulging  in  celestializing 
propensities,  and  the  worst  of  it  was  that  he  omitted 
going  through  the  Endowment  ceremonies  with 
the  young  lady. 

A  still  later  case  is  that  of  a  bishop's  son, — and  the 
facts  bave  appeared  in  the  local  journals, — who  has 
three  wives,  two  of  whom  he  married  within  a.  few 
weeks  of  each  other,  and  both  under  compulsory  cir- 


EFFECTS  OF  POLYGAMY.  201 

cumstances.  It  was  proved  beyond  a  shadow  of 
doubt  that  the  brutal  instincts  of  this  young  Mor- 
mon, came  through  his  parents,  and  that  every  child 
of  theirs  had  been  almost  on  a  par  with  this  one, 
— showing  how  truly  Mormon  polygamy  makes 
beasts  of  nearly  all  who  become  entangled  in  its 
folds. 

A  reputable  female  physician  who  had  a  very  large 
practice  in  Salt  Lake  City  among  what  is  called 
the  higher  class  of  Mormons  (they  never  employ 
male  physicians  except  in  extreme  cases),  has  made 
the  statement  repeatedly,  that  a  majority  of  her 
patients  were  in  need  of  her  services  when  they  had 
been  married  six  or  seven  months;  and  for  a  young- 
mother  to  have  been  married  nine  months  was  some- 
thing of  a  rarity. 

Only  a  few  weeks  ago  a  certain  Mormon  asked 
permission  of  John  Taylor,  the  present  head  of  the 
church,  to  take  another  wife.  To  his  credit  be  it 
said,  when  he  became  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stance;, he  refused  to  allow  the  marriage  to  take 
place,  saying  that  polygamy  should  not  be  used 
as  a  means  of  coveringsin.  But  if  he  had  been  as  dis- 
criminating in  every  case  of  the  same  kind  during 
the  past  few  years,  the  number  of  '•  waifs"  thrown 
on  the  world  would  be  alarming. 

But  a  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits,  and  in  lieu  of 
any  more  comments  on  the  system,  we  submit  the 
following  incontrovertible  facts,  known  to  thousands 
of  people  at  present  living  in  Utah.  We  suppress 
names,  because  there  are  members  of  each  family 


202  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

still  living.  Persons  are  nothing,  but  facts  speak 
for  themselves,  and  we  leave  any  candid  man  or 
woman  to  judge  from  the  effects  of  polygamy 
whether  it  should  be  crushed  as  a  poisonous  viper,  or 
still  be  allowed  to  spread  its  venomous  slime  under 
the  name  of  Religion! 

The  first  wife  of  a  prominent  Mormon  had  several 
sons,  one  of  whom  evinced  a  most  cruel,  vindictive, 
and  blood-thirsty  disposition  almost  from  his  birth. 
From  his  earliest  childhood,  he  seemed  to  take  the 
Greatest  delight  in  torturing  and  then  killing 
animals  or  birds;  as  he  grew  older  he  became  a  per- 
fect terror  in  the  neighborhood  where  his  parents 
lived. 

When  people  came  to  his  mother  to  complain,  or 
to  demand  satisfaction  for  some  new  depredatory  act 
upon  fowls  or  animals,  or  some  cruelty  perpetrated 
upon  their  children,  she  would  shake  her  head 
sorrowfully  and  say,  "Poo;-  boy,  it  is  not  his  fault, 
it  is  only  his  misfortune." 

When  asked  for  an  explanation  of  her  words,  she 
declined  to  give  it,  but  would  repeat  them  over  and 
over  again,  much  to  the  disgust  of  her  friends,  who 
pronounced  him  to  be,  "  without  exception,  the  worst 
child  they  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of."  Neither  the 
tears  nor  prayers  of  his  mother,  nor  the  punishments 
of  his  father,  made  any  impression  upon  him.  He 
grew  steadily  worse. 

When  he  was  about  sixteen  years  old  he  went 
away  from  home,  and  for  some  time  nothing  was 
heard  from  him,  until  at  last  it  was  discovered  that 


EFFECTS  OF  POLYGAMY.  203 

ho  was  living-  with  a  band  of  desperadoes  who 
were  both  robbers  and  murderers.  More  than  once 
were  his  hands  stained  with  the  blood  of  a  fellow- 
niortal.  His  own  death  occurred  by  being  lynched 
by  an  infuriated  mob  for  a  peculiarly  unprovoked 
and  outrageous  murder. 

When  his  mother  heard  of  his  dreadful  end,  she 
shook  her  gray  head  sorrowfully,  as  she  had  done  of 
old,  and  repeated  the  same  words,  "  Poor  boy,  it  was 
not  his  fault,  only  his  misfortune.  I  knew  it  would 
end  just  as  it  has." 

Shortly  afterward,  some  friends  came  to  condole 
with  her,  among  whom  was  a  person  high  in 
authority  in  the  church.  An  eye-witness  said  that 
she  should  never  forget  the  scene. 

After  a  few  sympathetic  words  had  been  said,  the 
poor,  half-crazed  creature  rose,  and  looking  the  elder 
straight  in  the  face,  said  in  thrilling  tones: — 

"  You  art;  responsible;  for  the  fab;  of  my  poor  boy  ; 
you  and  tin;  infernal  doctrine  of  polygamy.  It  was 
you  who  persuaded  my  husband  to  take  another 
wife,  to  live  up  to  his  privileges,  as  you  termed 
it.  We  had  lived  happily  until  that  time,  lint 
polygamy  made  our  home  like  the  abode  of  Satan. 
For  months  before  the  birth  of  that  boy,  I  felt  as  if 
I  wanted  to  kill  his  father's  second  wife,  the  woman 
who  had  destroyed  our  home  and  robbed  me  of  my 
husband's  love.  Murder,  and  nothing  but  murder, 
was  in  my  heart  all  the  time.  I  never  looked  at  her 
but  1  wanted  to  kill  her.  There  were  times  when  1 
would  willingly  have  yielded  up  my  own  life,  if  I 


204  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

could  have  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  her  dead 
first,  and  by  my  hand.  That  poor,  unfortunate  boy 
has  only  paid  the  penalty  of  his  father's  sin  and  his 
mother's  sorrow."  Then  raising  her  withered  hand 
on  high,  she  continued,  "  I  pray  God  that  the  curse 
of  an  injured  wife  and  a  bereaved  mother  may  fol- 
low you  all  the  days  of  your  life,  for  it  was  you 
wlio  Led  my  husband  into  polygamy." 

rmmediately  after  the  publication  of  the  foregoing 
incident  in  the  Anti-Poly ga/m/y  Standard,  the  fol- 
lowing letter  was  received  by  the  editor: — 

"The  article  in  the  last  number  of  your  valuable 
paper  entitled  'The  Effects  of  Polygamy'  recalled 
to  my  mind  another  incident  illustrative  of  that 
same  point,  which  occurred  in  a  family  of  my  own 
connections. 

"The  first  wife  fell  into  a  state  of  despondency 
on  account  of  her  husband's  neglect  of  her,  and  de- 
votion to  another  woman,  and  nothing  could  arouse 
her  from  her  constant  condition  of  sadness  and 
lethargy  combined.  Formerly  the  neatest  and  most 
active  of  women,  she  became  the  most  careless  ami 
indolent.  Her  house,  children,  even  habits  of  per- 
sonal neatness,  were  entirely  neglected;  and  she  did 
scarcely  anything  but  sit  in  a,  most,  careless  undress, 
and  silently  bemoan  the  sad  fate  which  had  robbed 
her  of  ;i  husband's  love. 

"After  a,  period  spent  m  the  foregoing  manner,  a. 
reaction  came,  defiance  took  the  place  of  sorrow, 
and  a  restless,  aimless  energy  succeeded  apathy  and 
despair. 


EFFECTS  OF  POLYGAMY.  205 

"  The  child  that  was  born  soon  after  is  a  com- 
pound of  all  these  elements.  At  times  she  will  sit 
around,  or  lie  in  bed  for  days;  will  say  she  is  ill, 
but  will  never  permit  any  remedies  to  be  given  her. 
All  she  wants  is  to  be  let  alone.  Then,  after  that 
mood  has  passed,  she  will  fly  around  and  yet  ac- 
complish nothing,  as  some  of  the  family  say. 

"Her  energy  can  never  be  directed  to  any  per- 
manently useful  or  beneficial  channel,  and  it  scarcely 
ever  lasts  more  than  long  enough  to  clear  away  the 
debris  accumulated  during  her  period  of  inactivity 
and  despondency. 

"  The  poor  girl  is  of  no  earthly  account  to  herself 
or  to  others.  Who  is  to  blame?  I  may  answer  in 
the  words  of  your  other  correspondent,  '  The  unfor- 
tunate child  is  only  paying  the  penalty  of  her 
father's  crime  and  her  mother's  sorrow.'  " 

Instances  of  a  similar  nature  might  be  multiplied 
almost  without  end. 

A  most  striking  illustration  was  made  public  dur- 
ing a  divorce  suit  a  year  or  two  ago.  Both  the 
parties  belonged  to  leading  Mormon  families.  The 
husband  sought  a  dissolution  of  the  marriage  tie  on 
account  of  the  furious  and  almost  ungovernable  tem- 
per of  his  wife.  Her  fits  of  passion  were  perfectly 
extraordinary.  He  deemed  the  lives  of  himself  and 
of  his  children  to  be  in  constant  danger. 

She  was  not  by  any  means  an  evil-disposed 
woman,  and  after  her  storms  of  passion  were  over, 
her  penitence  and  remorse  seemed  so  deep  and  sin- 
cere, that  for  a  long  time  he  hesitated  about  taking 


206  WOMEN  OF  MOEMONISM. 

the  final  step,  but  at  last  he  felt  compelled  to  do  it 
for  the  sake  of  his  children. 

( )f  course  the  affaiifwas  the  subject  of  many  and 
varied  comments,  but  to  those  who  knew  her  best, 
the  sequel  was  not  a  matter  of  surprise. 

Said  one  aged  relative,  who  was  still  a  member  of 
the  Mormon  church:  "  T  am  only  surprised  that  they 
lived  together  as  long  as  the}'  did.  For  that  girl, 
though  not  wanting  in  many  excellent  qualities,  had 
the  temper  of  a  demon;  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  it 
was  hers  honestly 

"Her  mother  was  a  second  wife,  and  for  some 
years  had  been  the  idol  of  the  husband.  But  a  new 
face  charmed  him,  and  he  decided  that  he  must  live 
his  religion  to  a  still  greater  extent. 

"As  it  often  happens,  the  second  wife  made  more 
objections  to  the  third  marriage  than  did  the  first; 
indeed,  the  latter  was  quite  willing  that  the  power 
of  the  second  woman  should  be  broken.  She  was 
naturally  high  tempered,  but  after  the  advent  of 
number  three,  she  used  to  have  such  terrible  fits  of 
passion  as  to  frighten  every  one  with  whom  she 
came  in  contact. 

"  The  scenes  that  occurred  in  that  household 
would  put  to  blush  the  Prince  of  Darkness.  It  was 
not  an  uncommon  event  for  the  bishop  of  the  waul, 
or  men  in  higher  authority,  to  be  called  in  to  calm 
her  passion,  and  restore  peace  in  the  family. 

"Before  that  girl  was  born,  her  father  was  heard 
to  remark  more  than  once,  that  it  would  be  a  happy 
circumstance  for  the  child  if  it  should  be  born  dead. 


EFFECT '8   OF  POLYGAMY.  207 

He  had  seen  enough  of  polygamous  life,  and  could 
not  close  his  eyes  to  its  effect  on  children.  And  1 
feel  justified  in  saying  that  'if  he  could  have  had 
his  way,  she  would  not  have  lived  very  long  after 
her  birth.  Shortly  before  lie  died,  which. w, is  when 
she  was  about  eight  years  old,  he  said,  'I  am  afraid 
that  Mary  will  yet  curse  the  day  she  was  born.'  " 

This  principle  of  the  transmission  of  hereditary 
traits  was  acknowledged  by  Brigham  Young  him- 
self to  such  an  extent  that  he  virtually  discarded 
our  of  his  wives,  who  possessed  a  very  violent  and 
ungovernable  temper.  She  had  only  one  child,  and 
the  prophet  said  plainly  that  he  did  "not  intend  to 
have  any  more  of  that  breed  raised." 

Brigham  Young,  who  certainly  was  very  shrewd, 
and  had  the  most  practical  ideas  of  life,  is  accredited 
with  saying  more  than  once  that  if  he  had  his  way 
he  "would  discriminate  among  the  women,  and 
not  all  the  wives,  by  any  means,  should  be  mothers." 

We  shall  say  but  little  of  the  physical  effects  of 
polygamy  on  the  children,  although  this  is  a  very 
important  phase  of  the  subject.  The  rows  of  tiny 
mounds  in  the  Mormon  graveyards  tell  the  tale 
briefly,  but  forcibly. 

A  noted  polygamist  in  Salt  Lake  City  was 
said  before  his  death  to  have  more  than  fifty  chil- 
dren buried  in  the  cemetery,  who  had  died  in  early 
infancy.  We  might  pursue  this  subject  further, 
but  our  present  mission  is  to  deal  with  the  moral 
phases  of  the  question. 

One  very  noted  polygamous  family  in  Utah  fur- 


208  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

nished  a  number  of  pregnant  illustrations  of  the 
deleterious  effects  of  the  system.  The  legal  wife  is 
a  very  elderly  lady  now,  and  has  had  a  number  of 
children,  all  of  whom,  so  far  as  living,  are  quite  ad- 
vanced in  life. 

It  is  said,  on  pretty  good  authority,  that  she  was 
a  plural  wife  of  the  prophet  Joseph,  and  her  eldest 
son  belonged  to  that  worthy,  though  always  bear- 
ing the  name,  and  being  generally  recognized  as  the 
child,  of  her  husband.  Let  us  glance  at  the  life- 
pages  of  that  son. 

From  his  earliest  boyliood  he  indulged  in  nearly 
every  kind  of  vice,  and  was  frequently  sent  on 
missions,  in  order  to  effect  a  reformation,  but  he 
invariably  returned  worse  than  ever.  He  contin- 
ually drank  to  excess,  and  besides  being  a  "  four- 
ply  "  polygamist,  he  had  the  well-merited  reputa- 
tion of  trying  to  insult  every  woman  he  might  hap- 
pen to  meet. 

Shrewd  and  unprincipled  in  business  affairs,  in 
private  life  he  was  equally  unreliable,  and  was  held  in 
just  odium  by  the  entire  people  of  the  Territory. 

He  met  his  death  in  a  fitting  manner,  being  shot 
by  an  incensed  brother,  for  an  attempt  upon  his 
sister's  honor.  He  wras  in  his  usual  state  of  beastly 
intoxication  at  the  time,  and  the]  avenger  shot  him 
down  like  a  dog. 

Another  cause  was  given  for  his  death,  but  by 
command  of  his  father,  the  matter  was  instantly 
hushed  up,  and  few  members  even  of  his  own  family 
Learned  until  months  afterward  how  a  swift  Nemesis 
had  overtaken  him. 


Rt.  Rev.  DANIEL  S.   TUTTLE. 
Diocbsb  of  Utah. 


EFFECTS   OF  POLYGAMY.  209 

His  body  was  brought  to  Salt  Lake  City  (he  had 
been  living  in  one  of  the  settlements  for  the  previous 
year),  but  was  interred  quietly  and  immediately, 
and  was  not  permitted  to  be  seen  by  a  single  person. 
Tl lis  was  in  accordance  with  his  father's  instructions, 
and  for  obvious  reasons. 

His  oldest  daughter  married  in  polygamy,  but  not 
until  she  had  several  "  little  affairs"  with  other 
gentlemen.  It  was  well  known  .that  her  married 
life  was  very  unhappy. 

The  fact  of  her  being  a  wife  did  not  prevent  her 
from  enjoying  the  society  of  gentlemen,  and  form- 
ing other  attachments.  One  of  these  proved  unfortu- 
nate. The  gentleman  did  not  return  her  friei  id- 
ship,  and  in  a  fit  of  desperation  she  threw  the  life 
aside  that  had  been  only  too  full  of  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit.  She  was  found  dead  one  morn- 
ing, and  a  little  vial  which  was  clasped  tightly  in  the 
ice-cold  hand  told  the  sad  story. 

The  polygamist  in  question  had  perhaps  twenty 
wives,  none  ever  knew  the  exact  number  but  him- 
self, and  it  is  doubtful  if  even  a  complete  record 
is  extant  in  the  Utah  Endowment  House,  as  a 
number  were  sealed  to  him  in  the  old  Nauvoo  days. 

One  of  those  plural  wives,  who  was  for  a  long- 
time reigning  favorite,  was  married  to  him  when 
very  young,  and  people  who  knew  her  at  that  time 
say  she  was  a  most  beautiful  girl.  She  held  her 
position  for  many  years  as  "Queen  of  the  Harem," 
but  her  time  also  came  to  be  displaced.  Without 
doubt,  she  had  been  devotedly  attached  to  her  hus- 

14 


2i()  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

band,  and  being  also  somewhat  of  an  invalid,   the 
blow  struck  her  with  greater  force. 

One  day  a  small  quantity  of  laudanum  was 
administered  to  her  to  deaden  an  acute  paroxysm. 
It  lulled  her  bodily  pain  and  soothed  her  mental 
anguish,  and  from  that  moment  until  the  day  of  her 
death  she  used  the  deadly  drug  continually.  For 
years  she  was  a  confirmed  opium-eater,  and  made  no 
efforts  to  control  the  habit  which  consumed  her  own 
life  and  exercised  such  a  baneful  influence  upon  the 
lives  of  others. 

A  member  of  the  family  says  that  the  death- 
bed of  this  woman  was  horrible  in  the  extreme.  In 
a  frenzy  of  despair  and  agony,  before  the  last  fatal 
dose  was  administered  to  "quiet  her  nerves,"  she  had 
every  one  of  her  children  called  to  her  bedside,  and 
made  them  swear  a  solemn  oath  that  they  would 
never  go  into  polygamy,  that  they  would  then  and 
there  forever  renounce  the  foul  demon  that  had 
ruined  her,  body  and  soul. 

They  took  the  oath,  and  have  kept  it;  but  the 
fatal  curse  that  wrecked  their  mother's  life  has  fol- 
lowed more  than  one  of  them. 

Two  of  the  daughters  are  almost  hopeless  inebri- 
ates. Another  is  an  equally  hopeless  opium-eater. 
and  an  outcast  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  She  is 
bright,  intelligent,  generous  to  a  fault,  and  in  hw 
first  youth  was  as  lovely  as  her  ill-fated  mother. 
She  evidently  does  not  consider  herself  to  blame  for 
her  frailties;  for  she  asked  a  friend  who  was  remon- 
strating with  her  on  the  course  she  was  pursuing,  if 


EFFECTS  OF  POLYGAMY.  211 

it  was  strange  that  a  man  who  had  so  many  wives 
should  transmit  to  his  daughters  a  penchant  for 
numerous  husbands. 

Truly  what  is  written  in  the  sacred  "Word 
has  been  fulfilled  in  this  man's  family, — The  sins  of 
the  fathers  shall  be  visited  on  those  of  the  third 
generation;  for  many  instances  may  be  cited  where 
his  children  have  escaped,  but  the  curse  has  fallen  on 
his  grandchildren. 

An  old  lady  who  is  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
this  family  remarked,  not  long  ago,  that  unless  every 
law  which  governs  hereditary  transmission  should 
be  at  fault,  the  next  generation  of  this  brood  would 
furnish  almost  innumerable  materials  for  the  insane 
asylum  and  the  scaffold. 

Two  plural  wives  of  this  man  were  driven  insane 
by  polygamy,  one  died  a  raving  maniac,  calling  upon 
Heaven  to  curse  her  husband,  and  declaring  that  she 
was  going  to  hell,  sent  there  by  polygamy.  As  yet, 
her  children  have  shown  no  decided  symptoms  of  her 
malady,  but  there  are  people  who  declare  that  the 
curse  will  not  pass  them  by.  Several  other  wives 
were  sent  to  the  grave  broken-hearted,  by  neglect 
and  ill-treatment;  and  one,  at  least  so  it  is  whis- 
pered, paid  the  penalty  of  unbelief  in  the  divinity  of 
Mormonism,  with  her  life.  A  number  of  his  children 
are  already  lying  in  drunkards'  graves,  and  more 
will  lie  beside  them  befoi-e  many  years. 

Many  others  have  avowedly  no  faith  in  Mormon- 
ism, though  not  formally  separated  from  the  church. 
Jn  belief  they  are  either  infidels  or  atheists,  and  their 


212  WOMEN  OF  MORMON!  HM. 

children  will  bo  launched  on  the  world  with  no  faith 
in  God,  heaven  or  hell,  no  sound,  moral  principles, 
and  no  respect  for  a  Government  which  has  per- 
mitted the  continuation  of  that  system  which  has 
made  them,  in  a  measure,  outcasts  from  civilized 
society.  This  is  a  brief  statement  of  some  of  the 
effects  of  polygamy  in  only  one  family  in  Utah. 

We  could  fill  volumes  with  facts  of  a  similar 
nature  regarding  almost  every  single  polygamous 
family  of  note  in  the  Territory,  and  those  whose 
social  position  does  not  bring  them  into  so  much 
prominence  are  much  worse. 

As  people  descend  in  the  social  scale,  their  family 
relations  will  bear  less  investigation ;  but  we  do  not 
know  that  morality  is  any  more  outraged.  The 
outward  surroundings,  however,  appear  more  hideous, 
probably  because  vice  is  not  so  well  concealed  as  in 
those  who  are  favored  by  more  fortunate  circum- 
stances. The  effects  of  the  system  are  precisely  the 
same  in  all  classes  of  society,  and  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  its  results  in  one  family  or  community  will 
answer  for  the  entire  people. 

Polygamy  is  utterly  at  variance  with  every 
known  principle  of  law,  order,  or  morality;  and 
people  who  practice  it  as  in  Utah,  if  let  alone  will 
soon  degenerate  into  mere  brutes.  Its  effects  are  to 
destroy  the  moral  and  intellectual  nature,  and 
develop  only  the  animal.  It  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  the  American  nation  will  permit  such  an 
institution  to  be  perpetuated  within  its  borders. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Wedding  Anniversary.— Mormon  Missionary. — His  Visit. — The 
Shock.— The  Old  Home.— Invalid  Sister.— The  Mother's  Ad- 
vice.— The  Journey  to  Zion. — Bishop  Parker's  Wives.  —  A 
Solemn  Promise. — The  New  Home. — Obscene  Sermons. — Mrs. 
Parker's    Friendship, — Unwelcome  Visitor.—"  Murdered." 

^T  was  Maggie  Blake's  wedding  anniversary, 
and  memory  carried  her  Lack  to  her  bridal  day. 
In  fancy  she  stood  once  more  at  the  altar, 
listening  to  the  words  that  bound  her  to  the 
man  she  loved,  until  death  should  them  part. 
Tears  had  filled  her  eyes  when  those  solemn 
vows  were  uttered,  and  she  had  whispered  a  prayer 
to  the  God  above  for  help  to  faithfully  keep  them. 
Happy  in  the  love  of  husband  and  child,  the  years 
had  rolled  peacefully  by. 

But  to-night,  as  she  stood  on  the  little  vine- 
wreathed  porch  awaiting  her  husband's  return,  a 
presentiment  of  a  coming  evil,  a  nameless  something 
that  she  could  not  define,  seemed  to  hang-  over  her; 
and  she  sighed  aloud  while  murmuring  to  herself  the 
words  of  the  poet: — 

"  Thy  fate  is  the  common  fate  of  all. 
Into  each  life  some  rain  must  fall." 

(213) 


214  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

Little  dreamed  this  young  wife  how  soon  the 
shadows  of  grief  would  darken  the  sunlight  of  her 
nappiness,  and  a  cup  of  sorrow  be  held  to  her  lips, 
from  which  she  would  drink  to  the  lees,  and  whose 
bitterness  would  poison  her  young  life  for  evermore. 

The  sound  of  her  husband's  footfall  broke  in  upon 
her  reverie,  and  she  ran  blithely  down  the  walk  to 
meet  him. 

"Well,  little  wife,"  were  his  first  words,  "I  am 
late  to-night,  but  business  before  pleasure,  always. 
I  stopped  at  Judge  Vernon's  to  talk  over  the  plan  of 
his  new  house.  I  am  to  begin  it  immediately,  and 
before  it  is  finished  there  will  be  a  good  many  hun- 
dred dollars  in  my  pocket." 

When  Maggie  attempted  to  scold  him  for  think- 
ing of  money-making  on  his  wedding-day,  he  laugh- 
ingly answered  that  she  must  veil  her  eyes  if  she 
wished  to  feign  anger;  they  were  tell-tales,  and 
showed  her  gratification  too  plainly.  But  when, 
after  tea,  he  asked  her  to  go  with  him  to  hear  a 
missionary  from  Utah  speak,  although  she  consented 
she  was  greatly  disappointed  that  he  did  not  wish  t<> 
spend  this  evening  at  home.  "Ah!"  she  thought, 
"  men  do  not  think  of  these  tilings,  or  if  they  do,  they 
call  them  trifles,  but  it  is  the  observance  of  such 
trifles  that  make  the  sum  of  woman's  happiness." 

A  little  later  they  entered  the  public  hall  of  the 
village,  where  a  large  crowd  had  gathered  to  listen 
to  the  discourse  on  this  new  religion;  some  from 
curiosity,  others  from  interest. 

When  the  speaker  stepped  upon  the  platform, 
Maggie  felt  a  thrill  of  disappointment,  not  unmin- 


.1    EEABT   HISTORY.  215 

gled  with  disgust.  She  had  from  childhood,  a 
reverential  feeling  for  anything  pertaining  to  religion. 
A  minister  of  the  Gospel  she  considered  as  one 
chosen  of  God,  to  be  treated  with  awe. 

Her  dear  old  pastor,  to  whom  she  had  listened 
Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  was  loved  and  respected  by 
all  his  little  band  of  faithful  followers.  And  well 
he  deserved  it.  The  needy  were  never  turned  from 
his  door,  although  to  aid  them  his  own  family  were 
often  deprived  of  comforts.  Only  a  look  at  his  dear, 
kind  face  brought  peace  and  rest  to  many  an  erring 
one,  and  courage  to  many  a  fainting  heart  that 
was  striving  to  enter  the  portals  of  the  heavenly 
city. 

But  this  man  was  a  portly,  sleek,  well-kept  indi- 
vidual, with  whom  one  could  never  associate  the  idea 
of  self-sacrifice;  on  the  contrary,  he  impressed  her  as 
being  just  the  reverse, — greedy  and  selfish  to  a 
fault.  In  appearance,  he  was  of  medium  height, 
broad  shoulders,  sandy  beard,  hair  a  few  shades 
darker,  florid  complexion,  and  light-blue  eyes.  His 
full,  thick  lips  covered  a  set  of  large,  while  teeth, 
which  he  was  fond  of  showing. 

He  told  of  the  beauties  of  Zion,  the  city  of  the 
Saints,  where  they  were  building  temples  to  God, 
where  there  was  no  quarreling  nor  lighting,  no 
backbiting  nor  jealousy,  but  perpetual  unity,  peace, 
and  harmony.  All  were  brothers  and  sisters,  will- 
ing and  ready  to  help  each  other.  He  was  an 
earnest  speaker,  and  while  under  the  spell  of  his 
voice,  doubtless  many  of  his  hearers  agreed  with  him 


21 G  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

that  the  Latter-day  Saints  were  God's  chosen  people, 
and  thought  that  Salt  Lake  City  must  be  a  heaven 
upon  earth. 

Marine's  dreams  that  night  were  troubled,  and  she 

Oo  O 

awoke  the  next  morning  feeling-  tired  and  ill.  As 
Hairy  bade  her  good-by,  lie  said:  "Have  a  nice 
tea  ready  to-night.  Maggie,  for  I  intend  to  bring 
Elder  Campbell  home  with  me,"  and  he  hurried 
away  as  if  he  felt  afraid  he  was  doing  something  to 
offend  or  grieve  her. 

For  a  moment  Maggie  was  tempted  to  call  him 
back,  and  beg  him  not  to  invite  this  man  to  the 
house;  but  she  saw  it  would  be  folly  to  do  so  with- 
out a  better  reason  than  she  could  give.  Yet,  all 
day  a  feeling  as  of  some  impending  evil  oppressed 
her,  which  she  tried  in  vain  to  shake  off.  As  even- 
ing approached  she  was  her  own  sweet  self  once 
more,  and  greeted  her  unwelcome  guest  as  pleasantly 
as  if  no  evil  fancies  concerning  him  had  ever  Hit  lei  I 
through  her  brain.  He  was  entertaining  in  conver- 
sation, relating  many  pleasant  stories  and  witty 
anecdotes.  When  the  talk  turned  upon  Utah, 
Maggie  noticed  that  her  husband  seemed  much 
interested,  and  from  a  remark  dropped  carelessly, 
she  found  to  her  surprise  that  the  elder  and  Harry 
had  met  several  times  before  in  the  village,  and 
appeared  almost  like  old  friends. 

Soon  aft.r  tea.   Maggie  excused  herself,  in  order  to 

'  OO 

put  Lilly, — her  one  little  darling  ewe  lamb, — to 
sleep,  and  when  she  returned  Elder  Campbell  said, 
"Your  little  girl  looks  \L-ry  delicate,  Mrs.  Blake." 


A   HEART  HISTORY.  217 

Maggie  replied  that  she  was  not  very  strong. 

"  Yon  should  bring  her  to  Utah,  then,  by  all  means. 
The  air  is  so  bracing,  and  the  climate  so  delightful, 
that  she  would  be  sure  to  grow  up  healthy  and 
robust." 

"Do  you  think  so?"  Harry  asked  eagerly;  while 
even  Maggie  thought,  "Anything  to  benefit  my 
darling." 

Seeing  his  advantage,  the  elder  resumed  warmly : — 

"I  am  sure  of  it.  Why,  madam,  people  come 
there  from  all  parts  of  the  world  who  are  crippled 
and  diseased,  and  in  a  short  time  they  are  restored 
to  health  and  happiness.  The  climate  is  wonderful, 
wonderful ! " 

Harry  asked  if  the  journey  overland  was  not  very 
fatiguing. 

"That  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  outfit  you 
have,  Mr.  Blake,"  the  elder  slowly  replied.  "You 
can  make  the  journey  very  comfortably  if  you  have 
the  means  to  do  so." 

After  a  short  pause,  he  added: — 

"  Come  now,  say  you  will  join  the  Latter-day 
Saints,  and  emigrate  to  Zion." 

"  We  could  go  to  your  Zion  without  becoming 
Saints,  I  presume,"'  Maggie  Laughingly  remarked. 

The  elder  seemed  rather  disconcerted  for  a  mo- 
ment, but  he  answered  with  a  peculiar  smile:  "  Cer- 
tainly you  could,  but  very  few  do.  However,  we 
should  hope  to  convert  you  soon.  We  should  be 
too  glad  to  have  you  with  us  to  quarrel  over  the 
terms."  Soon  after,  he  bade  them  good-night,  and 
took  liis  Leave. 


218  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

The  days  passed  by,  and  Maggie,  hearing  nothing 
more  of  the  elder,  concluded  he  had  left  the 
neighborhood.  She  sincerely  hoped  so,  for  his  in- 
fluence seemed  to  have;  wrought  a  transformation  in 
her  husband,  or  at  least  she  thought  so;  for  his 
change  of  conduct  dated  from  the  evening  Elder 
Campbell  had  taken  tea  with  them.  He  was  often 
gloomy  and  absent-minded.  His  evenings  Were 
occupied  with  business,  he  said;  so  his  wife  had  little 
of  his  company.  She  Avas  unsuspecting,  and  did  not 
think  of  connecting  his  absence  with  the  missionary 
from  Utah;  so  when  the  shock  came,  it  fell  with 
greater  force. 

One  evening,  a  few  weeks  after  the  elder's  visit, 
Harry  returned  home  earlier  than  usual,  and  as  if 
to  make  amends  for  the  past,  lie  exerted  himself  to 
please  to  the  utmost.  Maggie's  tender  little  heart 
accepted  the  olive  branch  extended,  fluttering  with 
joy  at  the  gentle  caresses  and  loving  words.  Perhaps 
they  made  the  blow  fall  all  the  harder,  when  Harry, 
suddenly  changing  the  subject  said:  "Maggie,  I 
have  joined  the  Saints,  and  intend  to  emigrate  to 
ion  . 

"Harry  !  surely  you  do  not  mean  that.  Would  you 
give  up  this  dear  little  home  where  we  havespentso 
many  happy  hours?  And  my  dear  old  mother,  and 
only  sister,  how  can  J  part  with  them-  Oh,  my 
dear  husband,  1  have  never  crossed  you  in  any 
desire  before,  but  in  this  I  cannot  yield  so  easily," 
Maggie  pleaded  when  she  recovered  from  the  shock. 

"Now,  Maggie,  your  entreaties  are  of  no  use;    we 


A  HEART   HISTORY.  219 

must  go,  but  you  are  welcome  to  take  your  mother 
with  you.  I  cannot  change  my  mind,  for  my  word 
is  given  and  cannot  be  taken  back,"  was  the  almost 
gruff  answer. 

Maggie  thought  she  would  make  one  more  appeal, 
so  she  said:  "  What  has  put  this  idea  into  your  head  ? 
We  have  every  comfort  around  us,  a  beautiful 
home  and  kind  friends,  your  business  is  prospering; 
think  of  the  sacrifice  you  will  be  compelled  to 
make !  " 

"We  can  soon  get  another  home,  perhaps  better 
than  this,  and  make  other  friends  as  dear." 

"  But  you  know  they  will  not  be  the  same,  Harry ; 
do  yield  to  me  in  this,  and  give  up  your  idea  of 
emigrating  to  that  far-off  country.  Something  tells 
me  it  is  not  for  the  best,"  and  she  clung  to  his  arm 
in  her  earnestness. 

He  pushed  her  rudely  aside,  answering  angrily: 
"No,  I  tell  you,  I  am  going;  and  if  you  do  not  choose 
to  accompany  me,  you  need  not  do  so."  And  to  stop 
further  questioning,  he  walked  quickly  away. 

"If  you  donotchoose  to  accompany  me,  you  need 
not  do  so!"  It  may  seem  almost  incredible,  but 
these  are  the  identical  words  which  the  Mormon 
elders  counsel  both  husbands  and  wives  to  say  to 
their  partners  who  do  not  willingly  consent  to  ruth- 
lessly sever  all  old  ties  and  associations  in  order  to 
emigrate  to  the  promised  land.  And  the  numbers 
of  wives  and  husbands  that  have  been  deserted,  and 
the  households  that  have  been  desecrated  or  totally 
broken  up  in   obedience  to   this  counsel,  Will  never 


220  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

be  known  until  the  secrets  of  earth  are  revealed 
on  the  day  of  judgment. 

Tears  of  wounded  pride  and  affection  filled  the 
eyes  of  the  loving  wife.  In  all  her  married  life,  she 
had  never  been  so  rudely  repulsed.  What  had  so 
changed  her  husband's  nature?  Was  this  but  a 
foil 'shadowing  of  coming  events?  If  she  thought 
so,  would  she  not  be  doing  right  to  take  him  at  his 
word,  and  remain  at  home?  No,  a  wife's  place  is 
at  her  husband's  side  in  all  changes  of  life,  and 
vicissitudes  of  fortune. 

The  next  morning,  Harry,  thoroughly  ashamed 
of  himself,  asked  her  forgiveness,  saying,  "Maggie, 
I  was  a  brute  to  talk  as  I  did  last  night,  come  kiss 
and  make  up."  She  raised  her  face  for  the  proffered 
kiss,  but  her  heart  was  too  sore  for  words. 

Holding  her  still  in  his  embrace,  Harry  continued, 
"You  must  not  think  that  I  could  for  one  moment 
harbor  the  thought  of  being  parted  from  you, 
Maggie.  What  could  I  do  in  that  far-off  country 
without  my  faithful  wife?  I  am  not  always  what 
I  should  be,  I  know,  dear;  but  still,  my  heart  is  all 
right,  and  holds  no  idols  but  you  and  our  child. 
Look  up  now,  smile,  and  say  yon  forgive  me." 

Hard  indeed  is  the  heart  that  is  proof  against 
warm  kisses  and  loving  words,  and  a  woman's  sen- 
sitive heart  is  swayed  by  love  alone.  Raising  her 
eyes,  she  smiled  through  her  tears,  though  her  lips 
still  quivered.  The  subject  of  emigration  was  not 
mentioned  again  for  a  few  days,  and  Maggie  began 
to  hope  that  it  would  not  be  renewed.     Alas!  those 


A  HEART  HISTORY.  221 

hopes  were  soon  shattered;  for  before  starting  to  his 
business  one  morning,  after  kissing  his  wife  and 
child  good-by,  Harry  said:  "Be  in  haste  with 
your  preparations,  Maggie,  for  we  shall  leave  here  in 
a  few  weeks.  I  had  an  excellent  offer  for  the  house 
yesterday,  which  I  did  not  think  best  to  refuse,  and 
the  furniture  can  be  sold  at  auction."  And  without 
waiting  for  a  reply  he  was  gone,  which  was  always 
his  way  when  he  had  grieved  or  wounded  his  wife's 
feelings. 

Pooi-  Maggie,  who  can  depict  the  agony  of  that 
moment!  Although  partially  prepared,  she  had  not 
fully  realized  the  sacrifice  until  then.  Her  brain 
whirled,  and  dropping  into  a  chair,  she  wept  bit- 
terly. Lilly  mingled  her  tears  in  sympathy.  "  O 
mamma,  must  we  leave  Grandma  and  Aunt  Agnes, 
and  my  pony  and  rabbits  and  all  our  pretty  things?  " 

"Yes,  my  dear,  I  am  afraid  we  must." 

"  Then  I  won't  go." 

"Hush,  Lilly,  we  must  do  whatever  papa  thinks 
best.  Now,  you  go  and  tell  Sam  to  have  the  pony 
at  the  door  as  soon  as  possible,  and  we  will  go  and 
see  grandma." 

The  more  she  thought  of  it,  the  more  her  grief  in- 
creased. How  could  she  leave  this  happy  home,  around 
which  clustered  so  many  tender  memories.  In  a 
few  short  weeks  strangers  would  own  these  cherished 
walls,  while  she  would  be  miles  away  on  the  road  to 
a  new  country,  leaving  every  endeared  object  be- 
hind. No,  not  all  she  loved,  her  husband  and 
child  would  be  with  her,  and  with  them  it  was  her 
duty  to  at  least  strive  to  be  content. 


222  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

The  home  of  her  childhood  was  but  a  few  miles 

distant.  Its  sole  oceupants  now  were  an  aged 
mother  and  an  invalid  sister,  to  whom  she  was 
devotedly  attached.  She  had  not  the  courage  to 
tell  them  sooner  that  this  sad  parting  might  be,  but 
there  could  not  now  be  longer  delay.  She  was  soon 
driving  through  shady  lanes  and  overpleasant  roads, 
passing  field  after  field  of  waving  grain,  fast  ripen- 
ing for  the  harvester's  sickle,  and  orchards,  whose 
branches  bent  beneath  their  golden  burden. 

"See,  mamma,  there  is  grandma's  house,"  cried 
Lilly,  and  through  the  tall  trees  with  their  heavy 
foliage,  could  be  seen  an  old-fashioned  country  house, 
setting  back  from  the  road,  with  broad  porches  on 
every  side,  over  which  a  variety  of  creeping  vines 
lovingly  twined  their  delicate  tendrils. 

Rover,  the  faithful  old  watch-dog,  bounded  joy- 
fully down  the  path  to  meet  them.  "  Even  he  will  miss 
me,"  she  thought.  At  the  sound  of  the  carriage 
wheels,  an  old  lady  appeared  at  the  door,  the  dearest 
old  lady,  too,  that  ever  was  seen;  not  very  tall,  but 
plump  and  rosy,  with  soft  brown  eyes  and  silver 
hair,  put  smoothly  back  under  the  whitest  of  caps. 
At  sight  of  her,  another  pang  was  added  to  Maggie's 
sorrow.  How  that  loving  heart  will  grieve!  She 
kissed  her  more  affectionately  than  ever,  and  asked: 
"  How  is  Agnes  to-day,  mother?  " 

"  She  is  feeling  quite  well  for  her,  Maggie,  and 
was  just  wishing  you  would  drive  over.  But,  my 
daughter,  I  do  n't  think  you  are  looking  very  well 
yourself."  Maggie,  however,  assured  her  she  was 
quite  well,  and  hastened  on  to  her  sister. 


A   HEART  HISTORY.  223 

The  pleasantest  room  in  the  hou.su  had  been  fitted 
up  for  the  invalid's  use.  Everything  in  it  was 
dainty  and  pure.  A  couch  was  drawn  to  the  win- 
dow, and  there,  scarcely  less  white  than  the  pillows 
on  which  she  reclined,  lay  Maggie's  only  sister — 
Agnes.  After  the  first  anxious  inquiries  for  her 
health,  Agnes  said,  "  I.  have  been  longing  to  hearyou 
sing.  I  of  ten  think,  when  those,  fearful  pains  come 
on,  if  you  were  only  here  to  sing  to  me,  it  would 
drive  them  away.      I  shall  send  for  you  next  time." 

"  I  hope  you  will,  dear,"  Maggie  faintly  replied. 
Oh,  how  could  she  tell  her! 

"Now  that  you  are  here,"  Agnes  continued,  "you 
must  sing  until  you  are  tired.  Oh  dear!  the 
happiest  days  I  spend  now  are  in  thinking  of  the 
old  times,  when  our  father  and  brother  were  alive; 
ami  of  the  songs  we  sang,  and  the  merry  games  Ave 
played,  in  the  long  winter  evenings.  How  we 
made  these  old  rooms  ring.  I  am  thankful  that  we 
were  so  happy  together,  and  never  fretted  each 
other  as  some  families  do,  so  that  we  can  now  look 
back  with  pleasure,  instead  of  regret  at  those  days." 

"  Yes,  Agnes,  we  were  happy,  but  you  were  always 
so  good.  I  cannot  see  why  such  an  affliction  should 
be  visited  upon  you." 

"  He  knoweth  all  things  best,"  sighed  the  invalid. 
"  I  do  not  mourn  now  as  I  used,  but  still  it  is  hard 
to  lie  here  so  helpless,  day  after  day.  Yet,  Maggie, 
I  often  think  it  will  not  be  very  long  now.  I  f<  1 1 
that  the  end  will  come  soon,  and,  dear  sister,  I  am 
content.     When  I  am  gone,  Maggie,  you  will  comfort 


224  WOMEN  OF  MORMONIHM. 

mother;  for  although  I  have  been  such  a  care  and 
trouble  to  her,  I  know  she  will  mourn  me  deeply, 
more  than  I  deserve." 

Maggie  was  weeping  bitterly;  never,  it  seemed, 
was  heart  so  tempest-tossed.  Where  was  her  duty? 
with  these  helpless  women,  or  with  her  strong  hus- 
band, who  was  taking  her  away  from  all  she  loved,. 
at  the  instigation  of  a  stranger  and  a  worthless 
adventurer,  as  she  mentally  called  the  Mormon 
emissary?  But  she  could  not  tell  them  yet  what 
must  be;  so,  seating  herself  at  the  piano,  she  played 
soft,  dreamy  melodies,  until  her  voice  was  firm 
enough  to  sing.  Then  one  song  followed  another, 
until  the  old  house  rang  again  with  the  sweet  music. 
Her  mother's  tears  fell  fast  as  she  asked  her  to  sing 
her  father's  favorite,  that  sweet  old  ballad,  "The 
Land  o'  the  Leal."  Though  her  voice  trembled, 
Maggie  sang  bravely  to  the  end.  Then  drawing  a 
stool  to  her  mother's  side,  she  rested  her  head  on  her 
knee,  letting  the  tears  flow  freely. 

Here  little  Lilly,  who  was  also  nestling  close  to 
her  grandma's  side,  said  softly,  "  Grandma,  mamma 
is  crying  because  we  are  going  away  to  leave  you 
and  Aunt  Agnes,  and  will  never  see  you  any  more. 
Papa  said  so  this  morning;  but  mamma  and  I  don't 
want  to  go,  do  we,  mamma  .'  " 

"No,  my  darling,"  Maggie  exclaimed,  almost 
savagely,  "and  we  won't  go  either."  Then  trying 
to  calm  herself  she  continued,  "  It  is  all  too  true, 
mother,  we  are  going  away  from  you,  and  yet  it  is 
for  you  to  decide  for  me.     Tell  me,  my  mother,  to 


A   HEART   HISTORY.  225 

whom  do  1  owe  the  greatest  duty,  to  you,  or  to  my 
husband  1  " 

"Quiet  yourself,  my  child,"  said  her  mother  gently, 
"you  cannot  know  what  you  are  saying;  going 
away,  where  would  yovi  go  to?  " 

"To  Utah,  to  join  the  Mormons,"  Maggie  replied. 

"Oh,  no,  not  that!"  came  the  agonized  cry  from 
two  loving  hearts. 

"Yes,  mother,  Harry  has  joined  the  Mormons, 
our  home  is  sold,  and  in  a  few  weeks  we  leave;  hut 
if  3'ou  only  say  so,  I  will  remain  here  at  home  with 
you.  Oh,  tell  me,  I  en  treat  you,  what  to  do,  for  I 
do  not  know!  "  she  sobbed. 

"You  must  go  with  your  husband,  my  child,  that 
is  the  only  thing  you  can  do.  Your  duty  is  plain  in 
the  matter;  he  has  the  first  claim  on  you.  Agues 
and  I  have  not  long  to  stay  until  we  are  called  to 
the  Master's  home.  I  wish  that  Harry  would  wait 
until  we  are  gone." 

"I  have  plead  with  him,  mother,  and  he  will  not 
yield;  yet  how  can  1  leave  you?  " 

"Do  not  grieve,  Maggie,"  said  Agnes  softly,  "it 
will  he  a  great  trial  togive  you  up,  hut  the  time  for 
parting  must  come  .sooner  or  later.  This  only 
hastens  it,  but  your  place  is  at  your  husband's  side, 
and  no  matter  what  follows,  you  will  have  the  con- 
sciousness of  knowing  you  have  done  your  duty." 

"I  wish,  Agnes,  that  I  possessed  a  little  of  your 
resignation  and  submission,  it  would  make  trials 
much  easier  U >  hear;  but  putting  aside  all  thoughts 
of  our  parting,  something  tells  me  not  to  go,  and  I 

15 


226  WOMEN  OF   MOTLMONISM. 

cannot  banish  the  thought,  it  seems  an  admonition 
that  I  dare  not  disregard." 

"  You  are  nervous  and  excited,  my  child,  and  no 
wonder.  God  will  prepare  the  way  for  you,  and  i 
sincerely  pray  that  your  trials  may  be  few.  But 
should  you  be  called  upon  to  carry  a  heavier  cross 
than  you  have  borne  before,  try  to  be  patient,  re- 
membering always,  '  Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chas- 
teneth.'  " 

A  host  of  warm  friends  escorted  Maggie  and  her 
husband  to  the  train  to  bid  them  God -speed  on  their 
journey.  A  number  of  persons  from  their  own  and 
adjoining  villages  were  going  also,  but  none  with 
wdiom  they  were  intimately  acquainted. 

Many  were  the  comments  of  friends  and  neighbors 
on  the  step  the  Blakes  were  taking,  but  Harry  was 
indifferent  to  all  remarks,  some  of  which  were 
intended  to  reach  his  ear.  Maggie  had  bade  her 
loved  ones  farewell  in  the  privacy  of  their  own 
home,  and  we  will  not  rend  the  veil  from  the  sacred - 
ness  of  that  parting  hour. 

Presently  the  signal  was  given,  the  train  moved 
slowly  off  amid  the  waving  of  handkerchiefs  and  ch<  ■«  is 
of  good- will,  slowly  at  first,  then  faster  and  faster, 
until  trees,  fences,  houses,  and  hills  seemed  flying  pasl 
them,  and  they  were  fairly  on  the  road  to  Zion. 

Maggie's  thoughts  were  at  home  with  her  loved 
oik  s.  She  could  not  weep,  but  there  was  a  look  of 
suffering  in  the  soft  brown  eyes,  unusual  to  them. 

At  Florence  they  met  other  emigrants  with  whom 
they  were  to  travel  across  the  plains.     During  their 


A    EEART   HISTORY.  227 

stay  in  this  place,  while  making  preparations  for  the 
journey,  Maggie  formed  a  few  pleasant  acquaint- 
ances among  the  emigrants,  which,  together  with  the 
excitement  connected  with  the  novel  mode  of  travel, 
went  far  toward  reconciling  her  to  the  change. 

The  first  day's  jo'urney  ended,  they  camped  for  the 
night  very  weary  indeed,  but  the  bright  camp-fire 
and  good,  warm  supper  soon  refreshed  them.  After 
Bupper  they  all  gathered  in  a  circle,  and  prayers 
were  offered  by  the  elders.  Then  came  singing,  in 
which  all,  young  and  old,  joined  heartily.  As  Mag- 
gie listened  to  the  songs  so  earnestly  sung  by  little 
children,  strong  men  and  matrons,  and  gray-headed 
patriarchs  and  aged  women,  whose  life-journey  was 
well-nigh  ended,  her  heart  was  touched,  and  she  feli 
that  perhaps  the  Lord  "was  indeed  with  those  who 
were  making  such  sacrifices  to  do  his  will. 

But  as  the  journey  lengthened,  and  the  days  grew 
into  weeks,  and  the  weeks  into  months,  and  each 
night  and  morning  she  heard  those  apparently  fer- 
vent prayers  and  songs  of  thanksgiving  that  they 
were  "permitted  to  gather  to  Zion  out  of  Babylon," 
echoed  by  women  and  men  sick  and  almost  dying 
from  exhaustion  and  hunger,  she  grew  to  hate  them, 
— they  seemed  only  a  mockery.  The  company  had 
been  late  in  starting,  and  as  they  had  also  met  with 
some  unavoidable  delays,  and  the  management  was 
not  of  the  best,  their  provisions  ran  low,  and  they 
were  placed  on  half  rations  before  the  journey  was 
two-thirds  ended,  and  ere  long  one  scant  meal  a  day 
was  all  that  was  apportioned  out  to  them. 


228  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

The  Blakes,  who  were  traveling  independently, 
were  amply  provisioned,  and  generously  shared  with 
others,  until  they,  too,  found  starvation  almost 
staring  them  in  the;  face.  Then,  as  the  weather 
grew  cold  and  stormy,  the  weaker  ones  died,  and 
were  hastily  buried  by  the  wayside.  When  the 
cheering  news  was  at  length  given  that  on  the  mor- 
row they  would  see  Zion,  those  poor  creatures  re- 
joiced greatly,  thinking  that  now  their  trials  were 
ended. 

A  more  beautiful  sight  than  met  the  eyes  of  the 
weary  travelers,  when  they  reached  the  summit  of 
the  mountain,  could  scarcely  be  imagined.  Before 
them  lay  the  lovely  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake, 
seeming  to  their  weary  eyes  a  very  paradise  of  rest 
and  contentment,  while  in  the  distance  the  briny 
waters  of  the  lake  glistened  brightly  in  the  sunlight. 
Many  heartfelt  prayers  of  gratitude  went  up  to  the 
Father  above  for  bringing  them  safely  to  this  peace- 
ful harbor.  Slowly  they  descended  the  mountain, 
and  entered  the  city  of  the  Saints,  where  they  were 
warmly  welcomed,  shelter  for  all  being  freely  prof- 
fered. 

The  Blakes  were  taken  to  the  home  of  Bishop 
Parker.  Leading  them  into  a  room  where  a  pleas- 
ant-faced lady  was  sitting,  their  host  said:  "  Mary, 
these  are  our  guests,  brother  and  sister  Blake,  and 
little  Lilly;  we  must  try  to  make  them  comfort- 
able." His  wife  expressed  her  pleasure  at  meeting 
them,  so  cordially  that  Maggie  felt  irresistibly  drawn 
toward  her.      Her  face  wore  a  sweet  yet  unutterably 


A   HEART  HISTORY.  229 

sad  expression,  showing  to  even  a  casual  observer 
that  she  must  have  passed  through  some  terrible 
trial.  A  little  later,  as  she  and  Maggie  were  sitting 
alone,  pleasantly  chatting,  a  young  woman  entered 
tin'  room,  with  a  child  in  her  arms.  She  asked  Mrs. 
Parker  some  questions  pertaining  to  household  affairs, 
and  Maggie  presumed  she  was  a  domestic,  and  her 
astonishment  can  scarcely  he  imagined  when  her 
hostess  introduced  her  as  "sister  Ellen  Parker,  my 
husband's  fourth  wife." 

Maggie  looked  from  one  to  the  other  in  perfect 
bewilderment,  and  her  eyes  followed  the  comely 
young  woman  as  she  left  the  room. 

"His  fourth  wife,  did  you  say?"  she  stammered. 
"What  do  you  mean?  Do  the  Mormons  marry 
more  than  one  wife?" 

It  was  now  Mis.  Parker's  turn  to  look  surprised. 
"Is  it  possible,  Mrs.  Blake,"  she  said,  "that  you 
have  not  heard  that  polygamy  is  practiced  among 
our  people?" 

"I  never  have,  though  perhaps  that  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  as  I  have  not  joined  the  church.  But 
my  husband  has,  and  he  has  said  nothing  to  me 
of  such  a  practice,  or—"  Maggie  checked  herself 
ere  the  words  were  uttered.  She  would  not  hurt 
the  feelings  of  her  hostess  by  expressing  her  senti- 
ments. 

Mrs.  Parker,  smiling  slightly,  finished  the  sen- 
tence for  her,  "  or  you  would  not  have  come  to  this 
country  ? " 

"I  do  not  think  I  should,"  Maggie  replied,  adding 


230  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

half  apologetically,  "  but  there  was  no  need  of  my 
saying  so ;  pray  forgive  me,  I  did  not  mean  to  offend 
you." 

"  No  offense  was  taken,"  said  her  hostess.  "  Every 
pure  nature  recoils  from  such  a  system  when  it  is 
first  spoken  of,  but " — with  a  sigh — ■"  like  everything 
else,  we  become  used  to  it  in  time."  The  fourth 
wife  again  passed  through  the  room,  eyeing  Maggie 
curiously  as  if  she  would  read  her  thoughts;  and  as 
the  door  closed  upon  her,  Mrs.  Parker  resumed,  and 
with  genuine  pity  and  concern  in  her  voice,  "  I 
am  very  sorry,  Mrs.  Blake,  that  you  were  left  in 
ignorance  of  polygamy.  It  might  have  saved  you 
much  misery,  had  you  known  it  sooner." 

"O  Mrs.  Parker,"  cried  Maggie  tearfully,  "  if  my 
husband  were  to  take  another  wife  it  would  kill  me. 
I  know  I  could  not  endure  it." 

"Ah,  my  dear,"  Mrs.  Parker  answered,  smiling 
sadly,  "we  all  think  thai,  but  we  manage  to  live 
through  it  after  all.  Let  us  hope  your  husband  will 
not,  at  least  until  yon  understand  and  are  reconciled 
to  the  doctrine;  but  should  he  do  so,  try  to  bear  it 
patiently,  and  you  will  be  rewarded  in  the  next 
world,  if  not  in  this." 

Ma'^'io  smiled  through  her  tears  as  she  replied, 
"Did  you  know  me  better,  you  would  see  the  futility 
of  such  advice.  There  is  not  a  particle  of  submission 
in  my  nature.  I  fear  his  home  would  be  anything 
but  pleasant,  if  Ik;  once  made  the  attempt. 

The  old  lady  sighed:  "So  we  all  think,  my  dear, 
but   continual    dropping  will  wear  away  even  the 


A   HEART  HISTORY.  231 

hardest  stone.  Now,  my  husband  has  four  wives, 
and  we  get  along  very  well,  .seldom  having  any  dif- 
ficulty. They  do  all  the  work,  while  I  am  house- 
keeper and  general  manager,"  adding  with  a  forced 
laugh,  "so  you  see,  polygamy  is  not  very  had  for 
the  first  wife,  after  all." 

The  sad  countenance  and  mournful  eyes  of  Mrs. 
Parker  belied  her  words,  and  Maggie  felt  in  her 
inmost  heart  that  she  was  not  speaking  truthfully; 
but  she  had  not  yet  learned  that  the  life  of  a  Mor- 
mon woman  is  one  continual  dissimulation  to  the 
world,  and  warfare  with  herself.  But  not  wishing 
to  appear  discourteous,  Maggie  said,  "Well,  look- 
ing on  it  in  that  light,  perhaps  it,  is  not  so  bad,  and 
anyway,  T  won't  borrow  trouble,  for  it  may  come  of 
itself,  soon  enough." 

They  were  soon  called  out  to  supper,  and  when  all 
were  seated  at  the  long  table,  the  four  wives  sur- 
rounded by  children  of  all  ages,  each  mother  pro- 
viding for  her  own,  Maggie  inwardly  shuddered  at 
the  thought  of  such  a  life.  There  could  be  no 
privacy,  or  real  home  feeling  in  such  a  circle,  though 
it  might  be  called  home.  How  could  she  endure  to 
share  her  husband's  affections  with  other  women,  a-- 
this  poor  wife  was  doing,  ami  yet  she  fancied  the 
husband's  voice  sounded  softer  and  more  tender,  and 
that  his  manner  was  more  gentle  and  respectful 
when  speaking  to  her,  his  early  love.  As  soon  as 
they  Mere  alone  that  night,  Maggie  broached  the  sub- 
ject nearest  her  heart  by  asking,  "Harry,  did  you 
know  of  this  doctrine  of  polygamy,  before  leaving 
home?  " 


232  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

■  "Well,  yes,  I  heard  a  rumor  of  it,  but  nothing 
definite  until  wo  were  on  the  plains." 

"Why,  then,  did  you  not  tell  me  of  it?  " 

"Oh,  I  thought  you  would  find  it  out  soon 
enough,"  he  answered  indifferently. 

"Yes,  to  my  sorrow." 

"Why,  Maggie,  you  do  not  suppose  I  would  bring 
another  woman  to  the  house  while  you  were  around  '. 
A  house  large  enough  to  hold  us  could  not  he  found. 
The  girl's  beauty  would  soon  be  spoiled,  for  if  I  took 
another  wife,  she  woidd  he  a  beauty  of  course;  you 
know  how  I  admire  pretty  girls,"  laughed  Harry 
teasingly. 

"Don't  jest,  Harry,"  Maggie  said,  her  voice  trem- 
bling; "tome  it  is  no  jesting  matter,  to  think  of 
sharing  my  husband's  home  and  heart  with  another. 
I  could  not  do  it,  I  must  have  all  or  nothing." 

"Maggie,  you  missed  your  vocation,"  cried  Harry, 
still  jesting.  "  The  tone  and  gesture  with  which  y<>u 
said  '  !  must-  have  all  or  nothing,'  was  worthy  of  a 
tragedy  queen! " 

"O  Harry,"  exclaimed  Maggie  impatiently, 
"can  you  never  be  serious!'"  Then  going  to  his 
side,  she  clasped  her  hands  on  his  arm,  looking 
earnestly  up  to  his  face.  "Will  you  make  me  a 
promise?"  she  asked. 

"A  hundred,  if  you  like,  my  dear,"  said  Harry, 
now  thoroughly  sobered  by  his  wife's  manner. 

"But  I  mean  a  solemn  one,  one  that  yen  will 
hold  as  sacred  as  your  life;  promise  me  never  to  take 
another  wife  while  1  live." 


A   HEART  HISTORY.  233 

"Bless  your  heart,  dear  one,  if  that  is  all  that 
troubles  you,  rest  in  peace,  you  are  all  that  I  can 
manage.  But  joking  aside,  you  know,  Maggie,  that 
you  and  Lilly  are  dearer  to  me  than  anything  else 
in  the  world,  and  T  would  sacrifice  my  own  life 
rather  than  give  you  any  unnecessary  pain.  Go  to 
sleep  now,  my  dear,  and  let  us  hope  that  our  future 
will  lie  brighter  even  than  the  past,  in  our  new  home 
in  Zion." 

Ah  me !  Harry  Blake  was  not  the  only  man  in  the 
history  of  Mormonism  who  solemnly  pledged  the 
wife  of  his  youth  that  he  would  never  trample  her 
affections  under  foot,  or  pollute  her  fireside  by  the 
presence  of  another  woman  with  whom  he  was 
living  in  sin  under  the  guise  of  religion.  The  victims 
of  those  broken  vows  can  be  numbered  by  hun- 
dreds, yes,  thousands,  who  are  living  to-day,  and 
who  envy  their  more  fortunate  sisters  sleeping  in 
nameless  graves  on  the  bleak  hillsides  of  Utah. 

The  very  next  day  after  their  arrival  in  Zion, 
Harry  went  out  with  Bishop  Parker  to  look  for  a 
home,  and  upon  his  return  informed  their  hostess 
that  lie  had  been  fortunate  in  seeming  a  house  and 
lot,  adding:  "They  told  me  it  was  church  property. 
The  house  has  been  occupied,  although  it  has  never 
been  finished,  indeed  it  is  a  mere  shell.  The  lot  is 
a  very  good  one,  however,  and  in  time  I  shall  be  able 
to  make  a  fine  place  of  it." 

"  I  know  the  house,"  Mrs.  Parker  replied,  "  the 
poor  man  who  built  it  is  dead.  When  he  reached 
the  valley  with  his  wife  and   three  little  ones,  their 


234  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

money  was  almost  gone,  it  had  taken  most  of  the 
savings  of  years  to  buy  their  outfit.  The  wife  was 
a  delicate  little  body,  but  cheerful  and  ambitious, 
the  children,  sweet  and  pretty.  The  husband  seemed 
to  worship  them.  But  from  the  day  they  reaches  1 
here  misfortune  seized  them. 

"  The  man  rented  a  small  house,  but  there  was  no 
1  »arn  or  yard  to  keep  his  stock  in,  and  the  neighbors 
advised  him  to  turn  them  loose.  One  morning- they 
could  not  be  found.  As  there  was  no  brand  to 
identify  them,  he  could  not  prove  they  were  his  had 
he  seen  them." 

"  And  did  he  never  recover  them?  "  asked  Maggie. 

"  No,  the  country  was  full  of  Indians  then,  and 
every  one  said  they  must  have  stolen  them.  He 
purchased  a  lot  on  time  from  the  church,  and  not 
having  much  money,  he  tried  to  build  his  own  house. 
When  tin;  walls  were  up  and  the  roof  on,  they 
moved  in.  That  winter  was  very  severe,  and  his 
wife  took  a,  cold,  which,  settlingon  her  lungs,  threw 
heron  abed  ol*  sickness.  Site  lingered  until  spring 
came,  then,  when  everything  was  green  and  beauti- 
ful, she  died;  the  baby  soon  followed  her.  and  the 
heart-broken  husband  and  father  gave  up  in  de- 
spair. 

"The  church  of  Latter-day  Saints  demands  a 
tenth  of  a  man's  earnings  for  tithing.  This  man 
had  nothing  to  pay,  whatever  he  turned  his  hand  to 
failed.  The  lot  had  not  been  entirely  paid  for,  and 
soon  had  to  be  surrendered  again  to  the  church. 
His  home  ix<<u<\  he  lost,  all  hope,  and  one  morning, 


A  HEART  HISTORY.  235 

soon  after  his  wife's  death,  he  was  found  dead  in  his 
bed.  The  two  little  orphan  girls  who  were  so  sadly 
bereft  of  both  parents  are  tenderly  cared  for  by  a 
family  who  have  adopted  them." 

"  What  a  shame,  to  take  his  home  from  him !  "  ex- 
claimed Maggie  indignantly. 

"  Yes,  I  thought  so,  too.  Brother  Parker  tried  to 
intercede  for  him,  but  was  told  that  the  interests  of 
the  church  must  be  looked  after,  which  of  course  is 
true,  in  a  measure.  But,"  she  said,  changing  the 
subject,  "  you  can  make  a  nice  home  of  it,  and  you 
must  not  mind  if  you  hear  it  said  that  it  is  an 
unlucky  place,  as  I  am  sure  that  both  you  and  your 
husband  are  too  sensible  to  pay  any  attention  to 
foolish  gossip." 

When  Maggit  s  was  fairly  settled  in  her  new  home, 
which  Harry  had  fitted  up  with  taste  and  comfort, 
she  might  have  been  content,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
grim  specter,  polygamy,  continually  staring  her  in 
the  face.  But  thrust  it  aside  as  she  would,  the  fear 
of  it  would  ever  creep  back  into  her  heart-. 

To  please  her  husband,  she  accompanied  him  to  a 
few  dances,  the  popular  amusement  among  the 
Saints,  but  what  pleasure  she  might  have  had  was 
turned  to  bitterness,  in  sympathy  for  her  sex.  To 
see  a  man  enter  the  hall,  followed  by  several  women 
who  called  him  husband;  to  note  the  angry,  jealous 
looks  bestowed  by  the  rest  upon  the  favorite,  or  upon 
some  girl  young  enough  to  lie  his  grandchild,  with 
whom  their  lord  and  master  was  flirting,  tilled  her 
with  indescribable  disgust. 


236  WOMEN    OF   MOEMONISM. 

Why  do  they  submit  to  such  treatment,  she 
thought;  if  it  were  her,  she  would  kill  herself  before 
she  would  suffer  such  indignities!  But  ere  long,  she 
learned  the  estimation  in  which  a  woman  is  held 
among  the  Latter-day  Saints. 

Neither  did  the  meetings  at  the  Tabernacle  and 
ward  meeting-houses  hold  attractions  for  her.  The 
sermons  consisted  principally  of  maledictions  hurled 
at  the  Gentiles,  and  eulogies  of  celestial  marriage, 
which  were  often  too  disgusting  to  listen  to. 

Some  of  the  apostles  were  profane  and  obscene, 
as  well  as  illiterate;  and  Maggie  felt  it  an  outrage 
to  be  compelled  to  sit  and  hear  such  libels  on  relig- 
ous  teachings.  Gradually  her  husband  ceased  to 
invite  her  to  accompany  him,  and  she  was  not  loth 
to  remain  away. 

She  was  greatly  attached  to  her  friend,  Mrs. 
Parker,  at  whose  house  she  was  so  pleasantly  enter- 
tained upon  their  arrival,  and  her  intimacy  with  the 
bishop's  wife  was  a  shield  to  her  in  many  ways;  for 
Maggie  was  fast  learning  some  of  the  mysteries  of 
Zion,  and  was  not  as  careful  in  expressing  her  opin- 
ions as  wiser  people  would  have  been.  Mrs.  Parker 
always  had  a  good  word  to  speak  in  defense  of 
Mau'oie,  who  would,  indeed,  have  been  almost  friend- 
less  without  her. 

As  she  sat  sewing  one  afternoon,  some  one  rapped 
at  the  door,  and  walked  immediately  in  without 
waiting  to  be  bidden  to  enter.  The  visitor  proved 
to  be  an  old  Mormon  lady  who  had  called  several 
times.     That  her  visits  were  never  returned  did  not 


A   HEART  HISTORY.  237 

disconcert  her  in  the  least.  "How  do  you  do,  sister 
Blake? "  she  asked  in  her  blandest  voice.  "I  had  not 
seen  you  to  ward  meeting  lately,  and  I  thought  I 
would  come  and  inquire  after  your  spiritual  situa- 
tion." 

Maggie  replied  politely,  asking  her  to  be  seated, 
when  the  old  lady  threw  back  her  bonnet  and  shawl, 
and  took  out  her  knitting.  Seeing  she  was  likely 
to  remain  some  time,  Maggie  resumed  her  work  with 

7  ua 

a  sigh  of  resignation. 

"You  have  been  here  some  time,  sister  Blake,"  the 
old  woman  remarked,  "and  I  have  been  wondering 
when  you  were  going  to  be  baptized." 

"  I  am  sure  I  do  n't  know,"  Maggie  replied,  "  I  have 
no  intention  of  doing  so  at  present,  and  for  that 
matter,  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  shall." 

"What!  sister  Blake,"  she  cried  in  amazement, 
"never  be  baptized?  Now,  I  know  you  can't  mean 
that.  Why  did  you  ever  come  to  Utah,  if  you  did 
not  intend  to  join  the  Saints?" 

"I  came  to  please  my  husband,  as  many  other 
women  have  done,  I  suppose.  He  is  a  Mormon,  but 
lam  not,  and  never  intend  to  be,"  was  the  decided 
answer. 

"But,  sister  Blake,  you  will  never  get  to  heaven 
if  you  do  not  join  the  church.  Do  n't  you  know  that 
only  the  Latter-day  Saints  can  enter  the  celestial 
kingdom )  " 

Maggie  smiled  quietly  as  she  said,  "I  will  take 
my  chances.  I  should  indeed  be  sorry  to  think  that 
all  the  dear  friends  I  have  lost  are  not  in  heaven." 


238  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

The  old  lady  interrupted  her.  Baying  eagerly,  "But 
if  you  should  join  the  church,  you  could  redeem 
them  by  being  baptized  for  them,  for  they  arc  in 
purgatory,  I  am  sure." 

"Baptized  for  them  I"  said  Maggie  in  surprise. 
"Please  explain." 

"Well,  I  never,  sister  Blake,  but  you  are  ignorant 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  church.  Did  you  not  know 
that  we  Latter-day  Saints  were  allowed  to  be  bap- 
tized for  the  dead?  And  as  we  are  the  only  ones 
permitted  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  we 
should  try  to  redeem  others  who  never  embraced  our 
faith,  or  rather  who  died  before  it  was  revealed  to 
our  prophet,  Joseph  Smith.  I  have  been  baptized 
twenty  times,"  and  the  old  lady  drew  herself  up 
proudly  as  she  added,  "and  as  soon  as  1  find  out  the 
names  of  some  other  relatives,  I  shall  be  baptized 
again." 

Maggie  threw  back  her  head,  and  laughed  more 
heartily  than  she  had  done  since  their  arrival  in  the 
valley.  "Truly,"  she  said,  "this  is  a  wonderful 
Gospel!  You  deserve  a  rich  reward  for  sacrificing 
your  comfort  for  so  many  people.  It  could  not  be 
very  pleasant  to  be  ducked  under  the  water  so  many 
times,  especially  in  cold  weather." 

"No,  it  was  not  very  plea-ant,  but  as  it  was  my 
duty,  I  did  not  mind  it." 

"Do  you  really  believe,  Mrs.  Foote,  that  you  have 
redeemed  the  souls  of  your  friends  from  purgatory,  as 
you  call  it?  "  Maggie  asked  seriously. 

"  I  do,  indeed,  sister,"  she  answered;  "  our  prophet 
says  so,  and  it  musl  be  true." 


A   HEART  HISTORY.  939 

"I  must  say,  then,  that  your  religion  is  a  very  self- 
ish one.  I  could  never  have  faith  in  any  doctrine 
that  claimed  to  be  the  only  one  by  which  people 
could  be  saved.  I  believe  there  are  earnest  Chris- 
tians in  every  denomination  who  will  be  saved  at 
the  last  day.  Their  judgment  may  have  been  at 
fault  in  some  things,  but  so  long  as  they  tried  to  do 
right,  God  will  overlook  all  involuntary  triors,  and 
commend  them  for  the  good  they  have  done." 

But  this  good  Saint  was  not  to  be  convinced.  She 
had  been  too  thoroughly  grounded  in  the  errors  of 
Mormonism,  and  was,  in  consequence,  too  bigoted  to 
see  things  in  any  light  but  the  one  she  was  told. 

"I  must  get  some  of  the  elders  or  bishops  to  talk 
to  you,  sister;  it  will  never  do  to  let  you  continue  in 
that  way;  your  fate  will  certainly  be  to  be  turned 
over  to  the  buftetings  of  Satan.  I  suppose  now, 
you  don't  believe  in  celestial  marriage  either?"  she 
said,  cunningly  watching  the  expression  of  Maggie's 
face  as  she  spoke. 

Maggie  could  scarcely  conceal  her  contempt,  as 
she  replied,  "Certainly  not,  how  could  any  true 
woman  believe  in  it?" 

"  Why,  it  was  a  divine  revelation  from  God.  It 
must  be  true,  and  we  are  taught  to  obey  God's  law, 
are  we  not  ?  " 

"  We  certainly  ought  to  follow  God's  law,"  Mag- 
gie said,  "  but  I  cannot  believe  he  would  give  a  law 
of  that  kind  to  his  people.  His  teachings  have  ever 
been  loving  and  merciful.  Such  a  law  or  practice 
as  polygamy  is  a  source  of  never-ending  misery  and 


240  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

wretchedness  that  no  loving  father  would  willingly 
inflict  on  his  children." 

"  That  is  the  way  the  women  all  talk,  Bister, 
until  they  are  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  I 
used  to  say  the  very  same  myself.  But  I  have  lived 
to  learn  better,  thanks  to  the  counsel  of  our  holy 
elders,  and  I'll  see  you  believing  in  polygamy  before 
you  leave  Utah,  and  giving  another  wife  to  your  hus- 
band with  your  own  hand,  as  I  have  done." 

Maggie  considered  this  conversation  simply  the 
chatter  of  an  old  fanatic,  but  she  found  afterward 
that  even  worse  and  more  absurd  things  were  taught 
and  believed  by  the  majority  of  Mormons.  Soon 
after,  sister  Foote  rolled  up  her  knitting,  said  good- 
by,  and  wended  her  way  to  another  house  for  a 
friendly  chat,  where  Maggie's  words  were  repeated, 
and  her  dreadful  heresy  very  severely  commented 
upon.  And  as  we  all  know,  a  story  never  loses  by 
repetition.  In  this  case,  it  gathered  strength 
until  it  assumed  wonderful  proportions  and  finally 
reached  the  prophet's  ear. 

On  the  day  following  the  visit  of  sister  Foote, 
Maggie's  servant,  an  intelligent  young  English 
girl,  who  seemed  mature  and  sober  beyond  her  years, 
said  to  her,  "  Do  you  know,  Mrs.  Blake,  that  Bishop 
Proctor's  wife  died  early  this  morning,  and  that  the 
baby  is  dead  too?  " 

"Why,  no,  I  had  not  heard  it,"  replied  Maggie  in 
surprise.  "I  thought  they  were  both  doing  well. 
How  did  it  happen? " 

"Happen!"  cried  the  girl  indignantly,  and  then 


Phot.    I.  M.  COYNEB, 

Principal  -alt  Like  Ciri  COLLBOIATB  In-titute. 


A   HEART  HISTOBY.  *2H 

almost  under  her  breath,  she  whispered  the  word, 

"Murdered!" 

Maggie  grew  pale  as  death  as  sin-  said,  "  Why, 
Mary,  "what  do  you  mean;  how  can  you  talk  so; 
arc  you  out  of  your  mind  '.  " 

"No,  ma'am,  I  am  not,  though  1  often  think  it 
strange  that  I  have  been  able  to  keep  my  senses, 
considering  all  the  wickedness  1  have  seen  done,  and 
all  that  I  have  suffered  myself  through  this  accursed 
religion.  Excuse  me,  ma'am,  for  making  so  five  as  to 
talk  in  this  way;  hut  although  I  have  been  with 
you  only  a  few  days,  yet  1  know  that  you  can  be 
trusted;  and  now  that  Mrs.  Proctor  is  gone  I  have 
lost  my  only  friend,  and  it  grieves  me  almost  to  death 
to  think  how  cruelly  she  has  been  treated,"  and  here 
the  poor  girl  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears. 

Maggie  endeavored  to  soothe  her,  and  as  soon  as 
she  was  quieted,  the  girl  resumed,  "You  keep  so 
much  to  yourself,  ma'am,  that  you  do  not  seeor  hear 
one-half  of  what  is  going  on  around  you,  almosl  l>\ 
your  own  doors.  You  know  Bishop  Proctor  has 
tried  to  keep  out  of  polygamy  because  his  wife 
hated  it  so,  and  she  was  such  a  loving,  delicate  little 
woman  that  he  could  not  bear  to  grieve  her.  Hut 
the  priesthood  have  been  hounding  him  for  months 
past,  and  he  has  been  threatened  with  being  sent  on 
a  mission,  or  even  being  cut  off  from  the  church,  if 
he  would  not  live  his  religion. 

"It  was  rumored  but  a  short  time  ago  that  he  had 
really  married  Louisa  Young,  and  when  Mrs.  Proc- 
tor  questioned    him,  he    denied    it;  but    when    she 

16 


242  WOMEN  OF  MOJ!  MONISM. 

pressed  him  closer,  he  told  her  it  was  none  of  her 
business, — such  an  answer  as  lie  had  never  given  her 
before  in  all  their  married  life. 

"I  had  expected  to  go  and  stay  with  her,  but  to 
our  surprise,  as  soon  as  she  became  unable  to  attend 
to  the  house,  Louisa  was  brought  there  by  the 
bishop. 

"  When  poor  Mrs.  Proctor  saw  that  she  was  really 
making  herself  at  home,  and  acting  as  if  she  were 
mistress  of  the  house,  she  again  implored  her  hus- 
band to  tell  her  if  he  was  married  to  her.  His  reply 
was  that  it  was  the  duty  vf  a  Mormon  woman  to  do 
as  she  was  told,  and  ask  no  questions, — a  duty  that 
she  had  always  failed  in,  but  must  learn  now.  She 
then  begged  that  Louisa  might  be  sent  away,  and 
some  other  person  procured  in  her  place,  but  this 
request  was  also  denied. 

"This  confirmed  her  suspicions,  but  it  was  not 
until  yesterday  that  the  entire  truth  was  told  her. 
She  went  right  into  spasms,  and" — here  the  girl 
lowered  her  voice  again  to  a  whisper — "they  say 
that  this  morning  a  blue  mark  was  found  upon  the 
baby's  throat.  Anyway,  when  Louisa  went  to  take 
it  up  it  was  dead,  and  the  poor  mother  died  soon 
after.  I  don't  believe  she  ever  got  her  senses  again 
after  she  found  out  that  Louisa  was  really  her  hus- 
band's second  wife." 

"  Oh,  how  horrible!  "  exclaimed  Maggie  shudder- 
ing. "  Surely,  as  you  say,  the  poor  woman  has  been 
cruelly  murdered !  " 

"  Yes,  and  she  was  such  a  good  woman,  too.      She 


A  HEART  HISTORY.  243 

was  such  a  good  friend  to  me  when  I  came  hero  an 
orphan,  alone  and  unprotected.  Oh,  ma'am,  if  there 
is  a  righteous  Go;l,  how  can  he  let  such  things  go 
unpunished  as  are  continually  happening  here! 
Why,  there  was  that  poor  wife  of  James  Knight" — 

"Don't,  Mary,  I  cannot  bear  to  hear  about  these 
things,  they  are  too  dreadful,"  said  Maggie,  still  pale 
as  death.  "  You  spoke  of  coming  to  the  valley  alone 
and  unprotected ;  how  did  that  happen '.  " 

"  Ah,  it  is  a  long  story,  ma'am,  and  it  almost 
drives  me  wild  to  tell  it.  It  makes  me  so  angry 
when  I  think  how  my  poor  sister  and  myself  have 
been  robbed  and  oppressed  by  the  authorities  of  this 
church.  But  if  you  will  excuse  me  now,  ma'am,  I 
shall  be  proud  to  tell  you  my  story  whenever  you 
will  be  pleased  to  hear  it." 

Mary's  story,  as  Maggie  afterward  heard  it,  was 
the  following,  as  told  precisely  in  her  own  words: — 

"I  was  born  in  England.  I  was  one  of  a  large 
family  of  children,  all  well  brought  up  and  tolerably 
well  educated.  When  my  father  was  converted  to 
Mormonism,  he  was  the  owner  of  quite  a  comfort- 
able property.  The  missionary  under  whose 
preaching  he  was  converted  (and  who  is  now  one  of 
the  twelve  apostles)  instructed  him  that  he  should 
sell  everything  and  prepare  at  once  to  emigrate  to 
the  valleys  of  the  mountains. 

"In  obedience  to  the  command,  my  father  dis- 
posed of  all  his  property,  and  was  then  told  that  he 
must  place  the  proceeds  in  the  hands  of  the  mission- 
ary, who  would  secure  a  passage  across  the  Atlantic 


244  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

for  himself  and  family,  and  provide  all  things  neces- 

surv  for  the  journey.  My  father  obeyed  in  this  also. 
I  was  present  when  he  delivered  over  the  money  toihe 
missionary.  I  saw  him  place  on  the  table  two  bowls 
filled  with  English  sovereigns  and  silver.  The 
money  was  emptied  on  the  table  and  counted,  and 
the  missionary  took  it  away.  Shortly  after,  he  dis- 
appeared from  the  town,  and  we  soon  learned  that 
he  had  sailed  for  America,  carrying-  the  money  with 
him,  and  making  no  provision  whatever  for  us. 

"Still  my  father  did  not  give  up  his  faith  hi  Mor- 
monism,  nor  his  determination  to  emigrate  to  Zion. 
After  a  great  deal  of  effort,  he  scraped  together  a 
little  more  money,  enough  as  he  thought  to  pay  our 
way.  Such  goods  as  we  could  take  with  us  were 
shipped,  and  we  started  on  our  journey. 

"When  we  reached  the  Missouri  River  our  money 
was  exhausted.  We  had  no  teams,  and  no  means  of 
getting  any:  and  though  the  winter  had  already  set 
in,  we  with  many  others  started  to  cross  the  plains 
with  hand-carts.  1  have  no  words  to  describe  the 
horrors  of  that  journey, — the  suffering  and  death 
from  hunger  and  cold.  My  faiht  r  and  mother  and 
five  brothers  and  sisters  starved  to  death  before  my 

eyes. 

"I  saw  a  young  man  of  our  company,  in  the 
agonies  of  starvation,  gnaw  the  flesh  off  his  own 
hands.  After  many  had  perished,  we  were  at  last 
met  by  teams  sent  out  from  Salt  Lake,  which 
brought,  necessaries  that,  for  the  time  being,  saved 
us  from  death  by  starvation. 


A  BEAUT   HISTORY.  245 

"But  our  sufferings  were  not  yet  at  an  end.  The 
weather  continued  fearfully  cold  and  stormy.  The 
provisions  brought  out  by  the  teams  were  insuffi- 
cient, and  all  of  us  were  near  perishing  with  hunger 
before  our  journey's  end.  But  whilethe  women  and 
children  were  starving,  the  captains  appointed  by 
the  church  to  lead  the  companies  of  emigrants  had 
plenty  to  eat. 

"At  length  avc  reached  Salt  Lake.  I  was  a  young 
girl,  known  to  almost  no  one;  and  my  sister  who  had 
survived  the  journey  was  much  younger  than  my- 
self. We  were  a  sad  pair  of  orphans,  penniless, 
friendless,  and  helpless.  1  knew  of  nothing  Ave 
could  call  our  own,  except  the  boxes  of  goods  which 
my  father  had  shipped  from  England.  I  made 
inquiries  for  them,  hut  could  learn  nothing.  After- 
ward I  saw  in  the  tithing  office  the  boxes  marked 
with  my  father's  name  upon  them.  I  asked  that  at 
least  a  part  of  their  contents  might  be  given  tons, 
but  no  attention  was  paid  to  my  request, 

"  My  sister  found  a  place  immediately,  with  a  kind 
woman  from  our  native  town,  who  has  been  like  a 
mother  to  her;  and  1  was  fortunate  enough,  also,  to 
find  a  kind  friend  in  Mrs.  Proctor.  Both  she  ami 
the  bishop  tried  to  recover  some  of  my  father's  things 
for  us,  and  although  they  were  not  successful,  1 
shall  never  forget  their  kindness  to  me,  the  poor, 
desolate  .orphan  that  I  was.  And  it  makes  me  feel 
so  wicked  to  go  to  the  Tabernacle,  and  see  the  man 
who  robbed  us  sitting  on  the  platform  among  the 
twelve  Apostles.     I  would  go  a  long  way  to  see  that 


246 


/;  OMEN   OF   MORMONISM. 


man  hung,  for  I   count  him   the  murderer  of  my 
father  ami  mother,  and  my  five  brothers  and  sit 

This  tragic  story  of  poor  Mary,  which  Maggie 
ascertained  was  true  in  every  particular,  together 
with  the  sad  death  of  Mrs.  Proctor,  affected  her  so 
deeply  as  to  render  her  almost  ill  for  several  days. 
And  to  add  to  her  (listless,  her  husband,  to  whom 
she  had  communicated  her  grief ,  told  her  calmly  that 
she  must  learn  to  take  as  a  matter  of  course,  every- 
ih  ing  of  the  kindshe  m  ight  hear  of;  for  though  such 
incidents  were  very  sorrowful,  yet  it  would  do  her 
no  good  to  fret  over  what  she  could  not  help  or  pre- 
vent. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

A  Happy  Home  Picture. — " Brother  Ellis." -The  Message. — A 
Stormy  Scene.— Attempt  at  Reconciliation. — Mrs.  Parker's 
Visit.— Her  Advice. — Christmas. — Scaled  to  Jesus  Christ — 
Joining  the  Church. — "Brother  Ellis"  Again.—  interview  with 
the  President. — The  Terrible  News. — '•  One  of  Papa's  Wo- 
men." -Attempt  to  Escape.  -Death. 

J|p!lTTLE  dreaming  of  the  storm  that  was  brew- 

Isp  mo  over  ner  head,  the  days   dragged  slowly 
alone  with    Maggie,    whose   thoughts  were 
lOyVp    constantly   occupied    with    the   sad    change 

%§*      which  had  taken  place  in  her  husband  since 

*^*       their  arrival  in  Zion. 

He  seemed  to  be  gaining  rapidly  in  the  estimation 
of  the  Mormon  dignitaries,  and  was  constantly 
called  upon  to  attend  meetings  and  gatherings  of  the 
priesthood.  She  felt  they  were  slowly,  but  surely, 
drifting  apart. 

The  little  caresses  so  dear  to  woman's  heart  were 
dow  seldom  bestowed,  the  many  acts  of  gallantry 
and  attention,  as  much-  a  woman's  due  in  married  as 
in  single  life,  were  now  seldom  performed.  Even 
when  at  times  he  appeared  like  his  former  self,  she 
still  felt  there  was  some  evil  influence  workingupon 
him,  to  which  he  was  gradually  yielding. 

(847) 


248  WOMEN  OF  MOIiMONISM. 

Looking-  from  her  window  one  morning,  she  saw 
that  King  Winter  had  dropped  his  snowy  mantle 
over  the  valley, 

"While  all  were  asleep  and  dreaming." 

The  pure  white  flakes  were  still  lazily  drifting 
down  from  heaven,  and  her  spirits  rose  and  her  heart 
fluttered  with  joy,  when  Harry,  on  awakening, 
talked  of  sleigh-rides  and  a  big  Christmas  dinner,  and 
went  whistling  and  singing  about  the  house  as  in 
the  olden  days. 

"  The  short  winter  day  drew  to  a  close.  The  little 
family  gathered  round  the  cheerful  fire,  Maggie 
busily  sewing,  Harry  reading  aloud,  while  Lilly  sat 
on  a  low  stool  resting  her  head  on  her  father's  knee 
and  gazing  steadily  in  the  glowing  coals  before  her. 

It  was  a  simple  home  picture,  and  one  that  dwelt 
in  their  hearts  for  many  years  after. 

"Hark,"  said  Harry,  "surely  I  heard  footsteps. 
Yes,  someone  is  knocking  at  the  door.  It  must  be 
an  urgent  errand  that  brings  people  out  on  such  a 
night  as  this."  Hastening  to  the  door,  he  opened  it. 
to  admit  three  men.  To  his  surprise,  they  were 
men  of  high  standing  in  the  Mormon  church. 

"  Why,  brother  Ellis,"  he  said,  "is  it  you?  Good 
evening,  brother  Wright,  and  yon,  too,  brother 
Handley.  You  are  very  brave  to  venture  out  in 
this  storm." 

The  men  seated  themselves,  although  two  of  their 
number  seemed  rather  embarrassed;  the  other,  how- 
ever, who  was  first  to  enter,  was  perfectly  at  ease. 


A  HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         249 

Maggie  had  never  seen  him  before,  except  on  the 
stand  in  the  Tabernacle,  and  she  shuddered  inwardly 
as  her  eyes  rested  with  aversion  on  his  face  and 
form.  He  was  short  and  broad,  his  feet  and  hands 
uncommonly  large,  his  face — but  how  shall  I 
describe  it?  The  forehead  was  very  low,  the  nose 
broad  and  flat,  the  lower  jaw  projected,  giving  the 
appearance  of  an  ape,  more  than  a  human  being. 
It  was  hard  to  tell  the  color  of  his  eyes,  for  they 
were  never  still  a  moment,  but  continually  shifting 
from  one  object  to  another.  Crown  this  image  with 
a  shock  of  stubby  reddish-brown  hair,  and  you  have 
a  perfect  picture  of  brother  Ellis,  a  high-priest  of  the 
church  of  Latter-day  Saints,  and  a  fit  person  to  send 
on  such  an  errand  as  had  brought  these  men  here. 

"I  fear  we  intrude,"  brother  Ellis  commenced, 
taking  m  the  pretty  home  picture  at  a  glance. 
"You  look  quite  comfortable  here,  brother  Blake, 
— your  wife  and  daughter,  I  suppose." 

"Yes,"  said  Harry,  "I  thought  you  had  met  my 
wife,"  and  turning  to  Maggie,  he  introduced  her  to 
these  good  brothers.  Maggie  merely  bowed  in 
acknowledgment,  but  the  men  stepped  forward, 
offering  their  hands  and  calling  her  sister  Blake. 

After  shaking  hands  with  them  all,  Maererie 
involuntarily  sought,  her  handkerchief,  and  furtively 
wiped  her  hand.  Had  she  looked  at  brothel-  Ellis  as 
she  did  so,  she  must  have  seen  the  angry  gleam 
in  his  restless  eyes,  for  nothing  could  escape  them. 
Harry  noticed  both,  and  frowned  angrily  at  his 
wife,  who  colored  at  the  rebuke,  and  hastily  replaced 
the  offending  handkerchief  in  her  pocket. 


250  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

After  a  slight  pause,  in  which  no  one  seemed 
inclined  to  speak,  brother  Ellis  said,  "We  came  on 
a  little  matter  of  business;"  and  from  his  tone,  one 
might  have  inferred  that  it  was  quite  to  his  taste, 
tli  is  little  matter  of  business. 

"Indeed,"  said  Harry,  in  a  tone  of  surprise,  "it 
must  be  very  important,  that  it  needed  attention  on 
such  a  night  as  this." 

"  Will  you  permit  us  to  ask  sister  Blake  a  few 
questions?  "  he  continued,  in  a  tone  that  plainly  said, 
"  We  will  do  it,  whether  you  permit  it  or  not." 

Harry  looked  up  in  astonishment,  but  answered 
"  certainly,"  for  he  had  been  in  Zion  long  enough  to 
know  that  it  would  be  dangerous  for  him  to  offend 
these  miserable  spies,  from  whom  no  Mormon  house- 
hold was  safe. 

Brother  Ellis  turned  his  face,  if  not  his  eyes,  in  the 
direction  of  Maggie,  and  asked,  "Did  you  not  tell 
sister  Foote  some  lime  ago  that  you  would  never  be 
baptized  in  the  church  of  Latter-day  Saints?" 

Maggie  looked  at  him,  astounded,  and  her  first 
impulse  was  to  ask  him  politely  if  it  was  any  of  his 
concerns.  But  as  she  glanced  at  the  almost  infernal 
expression  of  his  face,  a  sense  of  fear  took  possession 
of  her,  and  she  could  scarcely  steady  her  voice  to 
reply,  "  1  did." 

"Hid  you  not  laugh  atour  doctrine  of  baptism  for 
the  dead  ' " 

Again  came  the  answer  in  tremulous  tones,  "I 
expressed  my  disbelief  in  such  a  strange  and 
peculiar  doctrine." 


A  HEART   HISTORY  CONTINUED.        251 

"Did  you  not  scorn  the  idea  of  celestial  marriage 
being  a  divine  revelation?" 

To  this  Maggie  made  no  reply,  she  was  becoming 
indignant  at  being  cross-questioned  so,  in  her  own 
house,  too.  What  was  her  husband  thinkinff  of ,  to 
allow  it?  She  cast  an  appealing  look  at  him,  but 
his  faee  was  turned  away  from  her,  and  wore  a 
scowl  of  displeasure. 

Brother  Ellis  continued,  "You  know  the  old  say- 
ing, '  A  bird  that  won't  sing  must  he  made  to  sing-,' 
holds  good  in  more  cases  than  one." 

"Sir!"  exclaimed  Maggie  indignantly,  "I  do  not 
understand  you." 

"Don't  you?"  he  said  with  a  malicious  smile. 
"Then  we  must  make  our  meaning  a  little  plainer. 
Your  husband  is  a  good  Mormon,  and  it  is  your 
duty  to  be  one  also.  We  know  that  it  is  his  desire, 
and  the  good  Book  you  profess  to  believe  says, 
'  Wives  obey  your  husbands,'  don't  \t(" 

"  Yes,  but—"  Maggie  began,  but  this  high-priest 
mildly  interrupted  her. 

"We  won't  listen  to  your  interpretation  of  the 
words.  In  our  church  it,  mean-  that  a.  wile  should 
have  no  will  of  her  own,  hut  should  br' in  subjection 
to  her  husband,  who  is  her  lord  and  master:  and  he, 
in  turn,  is  to  he  in  subjection  to  those  who  are  in 
authority  over  him." 

"But  you  would  not  have  me  join  your  church 
when  ]  do  not  believe  in  its  doctrines,  and  abhor  its 
teachings  (  " 

•The  wife  should  never  follow  her  own  judgment 


252  WOMEN  OF  MORMONI$M. 

in  preference  to  that  of  her  husband,  for  God  has 

placed  him  at  the  head.     Be  obedient,  and  God  will 
cause  all  things  to  work  for  good." 

"Mr.  Ellis,"  she  could  not  call  him  brother,  "do 
you  consider  woman  an  inferior  being,  not  capable 
of  judging  for  herself?  " 

"Certainly  I  do.  It  is  woman's  place  to  minister 
to  man,  and  he  in  return  will  do  her  thinking  for 
her,  and  save  her  in  the  eternal  kingdom.  A  woman 
should  not  be  a  clog  on  a  man.  And  that  is  j  ust  what 
you  are,  sister  Blake;  you  are  keeping  your  husband 
from  living  his  religion."  -Then  turning  to  Harry, 
he  added,  "  Brother  Blake,  unless  your  wife  consents 
to  be  baptized  into  the  church,  you  must  put  her 
away  and  take  another  wife." 

"What!"  cried  both  husband  and  wife  in  one 
breath.  Brother  Ellis  hastened  to  say,  "Yes,  and 
we  were  sent  to  deliver  this  message,  brother  Blake. 
It  will  not  be  necessary  to  say  anything  more;  for 
you  know  very  well  that  the  rule  of  the  church  is, 
'Obey  counsel  and  ask  no  questions.'" 

Harry  sank  back  in  his  chair  without  a  word, 
but  his  face  was  pale  and  stern,  lie  knew  win 
well  that  brother  Ellis  spoke  true,  that  they  had 
not  come  of  their  own  accord,  but  were  emissaries  of 
a  higher  power, — a  power  that  could  and  would 
crush  relentlessly  any  who  dared  withstand  its  iron 
will.  Although  he  had  not  yet  sacrificed  all  his 
manhood  to  it,  still  he  dreaded  it  enough  to  fear  its 
threats  and  the  penalties  it  imposed. 

But  she  had  no  such  Pears,  so  she  rose  and  con- 


A  HEART   HISTORY  CONTINUED.  253 

fronted  the  speaker,  her  form  drawn  to  its  fullest 

height,  her  eyes  flashing  with  scorn  and  contempt. 

••  Such  a  command  isworthy  of  your  church,"  she 

said,  her  voice  ringing  out  sharp  and  clear,  "and 
persons  more  tit  to  convey  the  message  could  scarcely 
have  been  chosen.     Your  office,  gentlemen,  is  truly  a 

most  enviable  one.  You  are  worthy  teachers  of 
such  a  doctrine.  When  1  feel  myself  on  a  level  with 
the  rest  of  your  dupes  and  slaves,  I  will  become  a 
Mormon;  until  then,  I  claim  the  right  to  think  as  I 
please,  even  at  the  expense  of  your  threat.  There  is 
the  door,  gentlemen;  you  will  oblige  me  by  walking 
out  of  it,"  and  pointing  to  the  door,  she  fixed  her 
eyes  steadily  on  the  men,  who  left  the  house  with- 
out venturing-  another  word. 

Maggie's  anger  was  now  thoroughly  aroused,  and 
seeing  that  her  husband  did  not  speak,  she  Looked 
fixedly  at  him  for  a  moment.  He  moved  uneasily 
under  her  gaze,  but  would  not  raise  his  eyes.  Pres- 
ently she  said  slowly,  as  if  speaking  to  herself: — 

"I  was  to  love,  honor,  and  obey;  you  were  to 
cherish  ami  protect,  until  death  did  us  part,  You 
played  the  part  of  a  man  well  to-night.  I  con- 
gratulate! you.  It  was  so  manly  to  sit  still  and  let 
jrour  wife  be  insulted  by  the  infamous  tools  of  a 
more  infamous  priesthood,  without  resenting  a  single 
word.  You  did  protect  me  well.  TruJ//,  you  are  </ 
good  Saint." 

Never  before  had  such  words  fallen  from  her  lips; 
but  she  was  only  human,  therefore  liable  to  err,  and 
surely  she  had  just  cause  for  anger. 


25-4  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM 

Harry,  too,  was  now  thoroughly  aroused,  and 
like  many  another  man,  ho  took  refuge  in  harsh 
words,  putting  all  the  blame  on  the  weaker 
shoulders. 

"  A  nice  fool  you  made  of  yourself  to-night,  talk- 
ing as  you  did.  It  will  be  in  every  one's  mouth  by 
to-morrow,  and  I  shall  be  a  laughing-stock  for  the 
whole  town.  Had  you  kept  still,  instead  of  gossip- 
ing with  that  old  woman,  nothing  would  have  been 
said  to  us;  and  now,  who  knows  what  the  conse- 
quences will  be?  But  of  one  thing  you  may  be 
assured,  and  that  is,  I  will  not  be  a  laughing-stock 
any  longer.  I  have  been  told  often  enough  that 
I  am  under  a  woman's  thumb,  and  that  it  is  because 
I  am  afraid  of  my  lady  wife  that  I  do  not  go  into 
polygamy.     But  they  shall  see  who  is  master." 

"You  may  take  a  plural  wife,  as  they  call  it, 
a  mistress,  as  I  term  it,  as  soon  as  you  desire;  but  I 
will  not  remain  to  witness  your  disgrace." 

"You  will  not  leave  this  house,  or  if  you  do,  it 
will  be  alone.  Lilly  shall  not  go  with  you,  and 
you  will  do  well  to  remember  that  you  are  in  a 
country  where  a  woman  can  do  absolutely  nothing 
without  the  consent  of  her  husband." 

"  Yes,  I  know  that  woman  is  considered  n<>  betti  r 
than  a  fool,  and  treated  as  a  slave;  but  for  ;ill  that, 
I  will  not  be  forced  to  join  this  infamous  church." 

'•You  know  the  alternative  then."' 

"Very  well,  I  understand  you."  ami  Maggie 
walked  proudly  from  the  room. 

When  alone,  her  anger  and  pride  gave  way,  and 


A  HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         255 

throwing  herself  on  a  couch,  great  sobs  of  anguish 
shook  her  frame.  Oh,  why  had  she  left  the  dear 
ones  at  home?  Why  had  she  not  obeyed  that  in- 
ward monitor?  Then  these  bitter  trials  had  never 
come. 

Lilly  had  been  a  silent  though  awe-stricken  listener 
to  all  that  had  passed,  and  stealing  quietly  to  her 
mother's  side,  she  slipped  her  hand  in  hers,  and 
tried  to  comfort  her  with  soothing  words  and  tender 
caresses.  Her  child's  sympathy  quieted  her  aching 
heart,  and  the  tears  that  had  refused  to  flow  now 
came  in  torrents,  but  their  force  soon  left  her  weak 
and  exhausted. 

Mary,  who  knew  that  the  visit  of  these  men 
boded  no  good  to  her  mistress,  came  in  to  offer 
her  sympathy ;  but  Maggie  could  not  speak  to  her, 
and  the  girl  soon  left  the  room,  feeling  that  her 
presence  was  only  an  intrusion. 

Rising,  Maggie  wiped  away  the  traces  of  her 
tears, — would  to  God  the  events  of  the  past  hour 
could  be  as  easily  effaced,  she  thought.  In  silence 
she  assisted  Lilly  to  prepare  for  bed,  and  when  the 
child  knelt  to  offer  her  evening  prayer,  again  the 
flood-gates  were  opened,  a; id  Maggie  herself  prayed 
long  and  earnestly  for  help  and  guidance.  It  was 
long  past  Lilly's  bed-time,  so  the  eyelids  soon  drooped 
over  the  bright,  blue  eyes,  and  she  slept  calmly  and 
sweetly. 

Not  so  her  mother,  whose  heart  was  torn  and 
convulsed  with  conflicting  emotions.  Pride  and 
love  each  fought  for  the  mastery;  pride,  wounded  by 


256  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

neglect  and  unjust  accusations,  refused  to  be  com- 
forted. Love  called  up  the  past,  the  bright,  happy 
past.  Between  it  and  the  present  was  a  harrier, 
mighty  it  was  true,  but  not  entirely  immovable.  A 
few  words  of  contrition  and  repentance  might  re- 
move it,  a  few  tears  and  loving  caresses  might  break 
it  down.  It  was  not  the  loving  husband  of  her 
youth  who  had  spoken  harsh  words,  and  permitted 
those  creatures  to  insult  her;  but  it  was  the  influence, 
of  an  evil  spirit  within  him,  which  had  been  called 
into  life  by  daily  contact  with  those  wicked,  un- 
feeling, and  degraded  hirelings  of  the  Mormon 
hierarchy. 

Thus  her  woman's  heart  plead  until  pride  was 
entirely  subdued.  And  as  she  had  been  the  first  to 
speak  harshly  to  him,  she  would  also  be  the  first  to 
acknowledge  her  fault  and  seek  a  reconciliation. 
Ah,  a  woman's  heart!  It  is  something  to  cherish. 
Would  that  man  could  always  think  so,  then — 

"There  were  fewer  s<>l>s  in  the  poet's  rhyme, 
There  were  fewer  wrecks  on  the  shores  of  time." 

Stepping  noiselessly  across  the  floor,  Maggie 
opened  the  door  of  the  adjoining  room.  All  was 
silent  within;  a  faint  glow  from  the  dying  embers 
lighted  the  room  but  dimly.  Going  to  her  husband's 
side,  she  knelt  down  and  took  his  hand.  "  Harry," 
she  said  softly,  "forgive  me,  1  am  sorry  I  spoke  as  I 
did." 

He  did  not  answer,  but  coldly  withdrew  his  hand. 

Although  chilled   by   the  repulse,  she  continued, 

"Take  back  the  cruel  words  you  said  to  me,  Harry, 


*o?     ^\°S' 


Ca°^ZTFns  and  DIRBCfrO^^^ 


A    HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         257 

let  us  forget  they  were  spoken.  We  have  been  so 
happy  in  the  past,  let  our  future  be  as  cloudless.  Do 
not  perjure  yourself  any  further  by  following  the 
teachings  of  this  false  religion." 

Still  no  answer. 

She  would  yet  plead  a  little  longer.  "Oh!  my 
love,  my  husband,  will  you  not  listen  to  me,  if  not 
for  my  sake,  then  for  our  child's?  Would  you  dis- 
grace  yourself  in  her  eyes,  she,  so  young  and  inno- 
cent '. — " 

"There,  there,  Maggie,  you  have  preached  long 
enough,"  said  a  voice — could  it  have  been  her  hus- 
band's^ 

She  staggered  to  her  feet  as  if  a  blow  had  been 
struck  her.  Was  it  to  such  a  being  she  was  pleading 
for  love  and  protection?  Had  she  mistaken  his 
character  all  these  years  1  Had  she  been  worshiping 
an  idol,  to  find  it  clay  at  last? 

Alas!  no,  but  she  had  yet  to  learn  how  the  slavish 
and  corrupt  system  destroys  all  that  is  manly  and 
chivalrous  in  man,  and  makes  him  a  mere  puppet  in 
the  hands  of  his  masters,  to  be  moved  by  the  strings 
of  fanaticism  and  lust. 

Her  heart  was  wounded  afresh,  she  went  silently 
back  to  her  sleeping  child, — now  her  only  treasure; 
and  toward  morning  she  fell  asleep.  When  she 
awoke,  her  husband  had  left  the  house,  and  did  not 
return  until  late  that  nifiht. 

For  days  and  days,  Maggie  was  utterly  miserable. 
The  unavoidable  intercourse  of  daily  life,  such  as 
must  exist  between  persons  sleeping  under  one  roof, 

17 


258  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

and  eating  at  one  board,  was  all  the  communication 
she  had  with  her  husband,  and  the  estrangement 
told  sadly  in  her  hollow  eyes  and  pallid  cheeks.  But 
in  real  life,  whether  sorrowful  or  joyful,  the  days 
pass  somehow,  and  Maggie  strove  to  console  her 
dreary  horns  with  the  companionship  of  her  child. 

It  was,  however,  with  feelings  of  sincere  pleasure 
that  she  welcomed  her  friend,  Mrs.  Parker,  about 
a  week  following  the  visit  of  those  fiends,  as  she 
mentally  called  the  Mormon  elders,  who  had  forced 
themselves  into  her  presence.  To  this  dear  friend 
she  felt  she  could  pour  out  her  troubles,  and  find 
relief  in  the  sympathy  of  her  loving  heart.  As 
l\l;t"'i>ie  kissed  the  dear,  kind  face,  she  burst  into 
tears.  The  kind  old  lady  took  her  in  her  arms, 
soothing  her  with  loving  words  as  she  would  a  little 
child,  but  did  not  strive  to  check  the  flow  of  bars. 
Too  well  she  knew  the  relief  they  bring  to  an  aching 
heart,  for, — 

"  The  eyes  that  cannot  weep,  are  the  saddest  eyes  of  all." 

Presently,  when  the  storm  of  grief  had  spent 
itself,  she  said:  "I  knew  you  were  in  trouble,  dear 
child,  but  could  not  leave  home  sooner  to  offer  you 
my  sympathy." 

Maggie  repeated  all  that  happened  on  that  never- 
to-be-forgotten  night,  adding,  " Can  you  blame  me, 
Mrs.  Parker?     Had  I  not  cause  to  speak  as  I  did?" 

The  old  lady  shook  her  head,  saying,  "  You  were 
rash,  my  child,  although  I  cannot  blame  you,  yet  it 
may  bring  more  trouble  on  your  head.  Jt  is  as 
brother    Ellis   says,   I  lie    Mormon    church    considers 


A   11 E ART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         259 

man  the  master,  and  woman  should  have  no  will  of 
her  <>\vn.  She  is  an  inferior  being  in  its  estimation. 
Sometimes  I  think  it  were  better  for  us  if  such  were 

the  case;  we  Would  then  Suffer  less."' 

"I  cannot  think,"  remarked  Maggie,  "how 
women  of  intelligence  can  submit  to  such  indignities 
as  they  are  subjected  to  in  the  Mormon  church." 

Her  listener  smiled  sadly  as  she  replied,  "My  dear, 
it  is  easy  to  sec  you  have  yet  to  learn  the  sad  truth 
that  the  helpless  must  suit, nil.  And  with  some,  the 
slavery  comes  so  gradually,  the  links  of  the  chain 
arc  forged  SO  silently,  that  they  are  scarcely  aware  of 
their  condition  until  they  find  the  chain  so  securely 
fastened  that  it  cannot  be  broken." 

"Cannot,  do  you  say?"  said  Maggie,  in  surprise. 
"  Then  it  is  true,  that  you  women  in  this  religion 
are  nothing  but  the  meanest  and  most  abject  slaves." 

Again  the  smile  that  was  sadder  than  tears  shone 
on  the  wrinkled  face  of  this  good  woman.  She  did 
not  reply  directly  to  Maggie's  cutting  remark,  but 
went  on  to  say,  "It  is  not  an  easy  matter  for  a 
woman  to  break  all  the  ties  of  married  life;  she  has 
her  little  children  to  think  of:  if  she  left  her  hus- 
band, who  would  provide  for  them?  The  world  is 
not  always  kind  to  a  woman  who  struggles  alone 
for  existence;  but  if  she  bears  a  man's  name,  no 
matter  how  heavy  the  yoke  she  carries  with  it,  she 
is,  seemingly  at  least,  not  unprotected  or  friendless. 
Ami  herein  Utah  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for  & 
woman  to  sever  those  ties  with  safety  to  herself  or 
children. 


2G0  WOMEN    OF  MORMONISM. 

"But  pardon  me,  my  dear,  if  I  say  that  you 
have  no  trials  at  all,  in  comparison  with  those 
of  other  women  in  this  Territory.  I  rarely  speak 
of  my  own,  even  to  the  most  faithful  friend  I  have 
on  earth,  my  venerable  mother,  who  accompanied 
me  to  this  wilderness  in  order  to  be  near  me  in 
my  sorrows.  But  think,  before  leaving  the  house, 
I  had  been  ministering  to  the  wants  of  one  of  my 
husband's  wives,  who  has  just  borne  him  another 
child."  The  convulsive  clasp  of  the  hands  which 
had  been  lying  gently  folded  in  her  lap,  and  the 
covering  lip,  revealed  the  anguish  which  she  would 
not  put  in  words,  almost  for  her  life. 

Maggie's  generous  and  sympathetic  heart  soon 
forgot  her  own  grief  in  the  greater  one  of  her  friend. 
"  How  could  you  do  it !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  If  I  were 
in  your  place,  I  believe  I  should  have  killed  them 
both,  .sooner  than  minister  to  their  wants.  What 
right  have  such  children  in  this  world,  any  way? 
But  you  are  not  a  woman  at  all,  you  are  an  angel," 
she  added,  reverently,  taking  one  of  the  withered 
hands  in  hers,  and  tenderly  kissing  it. 

"It  is  hard,  oh,  so  hard,  to  subdue  the  flesh,"  con- 
tinued the  old  lady;  "for  in  spite  of  the  constant 
teachings  and  admonitions  of  the  church,  that  it  is 
the  sacred  duty  of  all  first  wives  to  love  our  sisters 
in  marriage  as  our  own  souls,  yet  the  thought  can- 
not be  banished  that  they  come  between  us  and 
what  is  far  dearer  than  our  own  souls.  We  are  told 
that  we  must  think  only  of  the  celestial  glory  which 
will  be  the  reward  of  faithful  adherence  to  the  doc- 


A   HEART  HISTORY   <'<>XTINUED.         261 

trine  of  celestial  marriage ;  but  in  spite  of  all  pre- 
tense of  spirituality,  we  cannot  forget  that  there  are 
children  in  whoso  veins  there  can  be  the  commin- 
gling life  current  of  but  one  father  and  one  mother, 
— children  of  our  husbands,  but  not  ours.  Strive 
as  we  may,  struggle  with  all  the  strength  of  our 
natures,  we  cannot  divest  ourselves  of  the  belief  that 
a  true  marriage  can  be  only  between  one  man  and 
one  woman,  and  all  other  alliances  are  contrary  to 
both  God  and  nature." 

"But  if  women  believe  in  this  way,  why  do  they 
submit  to  the  degradation  of  polygamy?"  asked 
Maggie.  "  Surely,  if  they  would  be  firm,  the  system 
would  soon  die  out." 

"In  every  religion  there  are  fanatics,  and  more,  I 
think,  among  the  Latter-day  Saints  than  any  other. 
They  are  taught  that  polygamy  is  their  only  way 
of  salvation,  and  I  know  there  are  many  who  firmly 
believe  it,  though  against  their  better  judgment, 
and  though  all  their  womanly  instincts  revolt 
against  the  system.  Then  there  are  so  many  igno- 
rant ones  whom  it  is  easy  to  make  believe.  So  the 
evil  grows  and  thrives,  taking  deeper  root  daily,  its 
fibers  spreading  wider  and  wider,  until  it  has  taken 
so  firm  a  hold  that  it  cannot  be  rooted  out.  And 
we  who  have  the  most  experience,  always  find  it  the 
ivisestplan  to  submit  quietly,  and  make  the  best  of 
what  we  cannot  alter. 

"Look  at  me,  for  instance.  My  husband  went 
into  polygamy  because  he  honestly  considered  it  his 
duty.      I  had  faith  in  his  sincerity,  and  though  I 


2G2  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

thought  it  would  be  my  death  blow,  yet  I  loved 
him  too  well  to  desert  him,  if  I  could  safely  have 
done  so.  He  has  never  failed  in  his  duty  to  me ;  he 
has  always  stipulated  that  the  other  women  should 
treat  me  with  deference  and  respect,  and  I  have  al- 
ways tried  to  treat  them  as  well  as  I  possibly  eould. 
I  suppose  there  has  been  less  unpleasantness  in  our 
family  than  in  any  other  polygamous  household 
that  I  know;  and  I  leave  it  to  your  own  common 
sense  if  it  was  not  wiser  for  me  to  retain  the  affec- 
tion and  esteem  of  my  husband  than  make  his 
home  a  place  of  torment,  and  entirely  alienate  him 
from  me." 

Of  course  Maggie  was  not  convinced,  so  she  an- 
swered, "As  I  said  before,  dear  friend,  you  are  more 
of  an  angel  than  a  woman.  I  would  not  answer  for 
myself  what  I  should  do  under  such  circumstances. 
But  surely,  if  these  principles  and  doctrines  were 
preached  by  the  missionaries  among  their  converts 
before  coming  to  Utah,  there  would  not  be  so  many 
dupes." 

"  They  know  that  perfectly  well,  and  are  there- 
fore on  their  guard.  Many  good  men  and  women 
come  to  these  valleys  to  enjoy  their  religion,  think- 
ing it  a  peaceful,  favored  spot,  where  evil  and  crime 
are  unknown,"  rejoined  Mrs.  Parker. 

"Well,  why  do  they  not  return  when  they  learn 
the  true  state  of  affairs?  "  asked  Maggie. 

"For  many  reasons.  You  know  the  difficulties 
of  the  journey  over  the  plains,  as  well  as  the  ex- 
pense.    The  majority  of  the  people  have  but  very 


A   HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         263 

little  when  they  arrive,  and  those  who  are  people  of 
means  almost  invariably  give  what  they  have  to  the 
church  authorities  for  safe-keeping  before  they  start 
for  Zion,  and  it  is  not  usual  for  the  church  to  be  in 
a  condition  to  refundit  all  at  once — " 

"Ah,  yes,"  interrupted  Maggie,  "I  see  it  all  very 
plainly,  but  if  I  were  a  man  and  free  to  come  and 
go  as  I  pleased,  I  would  leave  the  country  in  some 
way,  and  denounce  these  creatures  to  the  world  as 
a  set  of  swindlers  as  well  as  tyrants." 

"  No  doubt  that  you  would  make  the  attempt, 
my  dear,  but  you  might  be  forestalled  in  your  in- 
tention.    You  might  not  reach  your  destination." 

"Why  not,  pray,"  Maggie  began;  then  she  re- 
membered something  she  had  heard  hinted  before. 
A  look  of  horror  stole  into  her  eyes,  blanching  her 
cheek  as  well,  and  she  added  in  a  whisper,  "  Surely 
you  do  not  mean  they  would  be  foully  dealt  with?  " 

"  I  cannot  say,  my  dear,  but  I  do  know  that 
sonic  who  have  made  the  attempt,  have  never  been 
heard  of  again." 

"  Then  Heaven  help  me ;  how  can  I  escape  from 
their  toils?"  exclaimed  Maggie. 

"  Do  not  attempt  it;  submit  with  what  patience 
you  can;  believe  me,  it  is  best." 

"  But  I  would  be  living  a  lie.  It  would  be  only 
an  outward  acquiescence,  against  which  my  heart 
would  constantly  rebel." 

"  Nevertheless,  I  say  you  will  be  wiser  to  obey 
counsel  in  this  case.  After  all,  it  is  the  first  Btep 
that  is  the  hardest;  in  grief,  as  in  sin,  the  heart  be- 


2C4  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

comes  callous,  and  ceases  to  feel  the  pain  of  each 
new  dart  that  pierces  it." 

"  Would  you  advise  me  in  all  good  faith,  to  profess 
a  belief  in  the  teachings  of  a  church  for  which  I  feel 
nothing  but  contempt?"  Maggie  asked  earnestly. 

For  a  moment  there  was  silence  between  them. 
Maggie,  watching  her  friend's  face,  saw  it  work 
with  emotion.  When  she  spoke,  her  voice  trembled, 
and  her  eyes  glistened  with  unshed  tears. 

"God  forgive  me,"  she  said,  "if  I  advise  you 
wrongfully,  but  I  think  you  would  be  happier  were 
you  to  join  the  church.  You  know  it  is  not  likely 
that  your  husband  will  leave  it.  I  believe  that  he 
cannot,  or  will  not,  and  a  man  likes  his  wife  to  be 
of  the  same  mind  as  himself,  and  especially  die  does 
not  like  her  to  set  herself  in  opposition  to  all  his 
wishes." 

"  I  know  all  that,"  Maggie  sighed,  "  but — " 

"  I  realize  all  you  feel,  my  dear  child,  and  if  you 
were  not  in  Utah,  I  would  not  give  you  this  advice ; 
but  since  you  are  here,  and  no  prospects  of  leaving, 
I  say,  join  the  church;  take  no  notice  of  what  <1<hs 
not  concern  you,  and  ask  no  questions.  Then  you 
will  not  be  persecuted." 

For  awhile  Maggie  sat  in  deep  thought,  then  she 
said  slowly,  "I  will  think  of  it  seriously,  but  my 
1  letter  nature  revolts  at  the  sacrifice.  It  is  disgra- 
cing my  womanhood,  besides  acting  the  part  of  a 
hypocrite,  and  I  fear  I  shall  be  sinning  in  God's 
sight.  Yet  he  will  know  that  I  am  trying  to  act 
for  the  best." 


A  HEART  HISTORY   CONTINUED.         265 

Christmas  came — a  day  observed  by  all  Christians 
as  one  of  rejoicing,  when  the  merry  bells  ring  forth 
the  fflad  tidings  that  a  Saviour  is  born.  And  fol- 
lowing  the  example  of  the  "three  wise  men  of  the 
East,"  who  brought  gifts  from  afar  to  lay  at  the 
feet  of  Jesus,  a  tiny  babe  lying  in  a  manger,  we, 
keeping  the  ancient  custom,  give  to  our  loved  ones 
ffifts  and  tokens  of  remembrance,  and  for  his  dear 
sake,  not  forgetting  even  the  poorest  of  his  creat- 
ures. 

Here  in  Utah,  the  morning  dawned  bright  and 
beautiful,  and  yet  on  his  birthday,  no  bells  rang  out 
the  glad  tidings  to  the  Saints  in  this  valley,  no 
anthems  or  carols  were  sung  to  his  praise.  Little 
children  were  not  taught  that  Christ  was  once  a 
child  like  themselves.  They  were  not  told  that  he 
loved  them,  took  them  in  his  arms,  and  blessed  them, 
saying  to  those  who  would  keep  them  away,  "  Suffer 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them 
not;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  Mormons  do  not  hold  services  on  Christmas- 
day  in  their  Tabernacle,  to  tell  their  people  that  a 
Saviour  was  given  them  on  this  blessed  morning, 
many  years  ago.  But  they  tell  them  Christ  was  a 
polygamist,  that  Mary  and  Martha  were  his  plural 
wives,  and  the  marriage  at  Cana  of  Galilee  was  his 
own.  Think  of  that,  ye  Christian  women  of  this 
enlightened  country !  was  there  ever  such  sacrilege' '. 
Our  Saviour,  the  embodiment  of  all  that  was  pure 
and  holy,  following  this  lustful  doctrine!  They 
tell  them  also  that  here  in  Salt  Lake  Valley,  a  tern- 


2GG  WOMEN   OF  MORMdSfSU. 

poral  kingdom  shall  be  set  up,  and  that  Christ  will 
personally  rule  and  reign  therein. 

And  though  it  seems  almost  too  monstrous  to  be 
credited,  there  have  been  women  so  utterly  unbal- 
anced and  led  away  by  the  pernicious  and  immoral 
teachings  of  this  church,  that  they  have  been  sealed 
to  Jesus  Christ,  some  Mormon  brother  standing  as 
proxy,  so  that  they  might  be  numbered  among  his 
plural  wives  in  the  resurrection. 

Maggie  thought  of  her  last  Christmas  among  her 
dear  friends  in  her  far-off  Eastern  home.  The  time 
that  had  passed  since  then  seemed  ages  to  her, — 
every  month  a  long  dreary  year  with  neither  spring 
nor  summer,  only  dark  and  stormy  autumn  and 
winter  days. 

Lilly  aroused  her  by  calling  in  her  ear,  "  Merry 
Christmas,  mamma."  Kissing  her  affectionately,  she 
returned  the  caress  with  a  smile,  thinking  it  would 
not  be  a  very  merry  one  to  the  poor  child. 

While  these  sad  thoughts  were  fiittino-  through 
Maggie's  mind,  her  husband  was  taking  himself  to 
task  for  his  treatment  of  her.  "Peace  on  earth, 
good  will  to  men,"  sang  in  his  ears. 

"I  cannot  stand  this  life  any  longer,"  he  said  to 
himself.  "  What  made  me  talk  as  I  did  to  Maggie,  1 
wonder?  In  all  our  married  life,  such  words  never 
passed  our  lips  before.  I  used  to  consider  myself  a 
gentleman;  it  must  be  the  influence  of  the  country. 
The  men  out  here  don't  treat  their  wives  as  they 
should,  and  I  have  been  foolish  enough  nof  to  resent 
it  when  they  have  laughed  at  me  for   the  way  I 


A  HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         267 

speak  of  my  wife,  as  though  she  were  my  equal. 
•But  I  will  be  man  enough  to  acknowledge  I  was  in 
the  wrong,  for  she  is  the  dearest  little  woman  in  the 
world,  and  as  people  always  said,  much  too  good  for 
a  fellow  like  me." 

His  hand  was  on  the  door  knob  ere  he  had  thought 
what  to  say,  or  how  he  should  plead  for  pardon. 
Opening  the  door  softly,  he  entered  the  room  where 
Maggie  sat;  her  attitude  was  one  of  the  deepest  de- 
jection, and  she  was  quietly  weeping.  No  thought 
then  had  Harry  of  the  words  to  be  spoken ;  at  sight 
of  those  tears,  words  of  penitence  rushed  to  his  lips. 

"  Forgive  me,  Maggie.  Dry  your  eyes,  dear  wife, 
and  we  will  forget  the  hasty  words  spoken;  bury 
them  with  the  past,  and  let  us  try  to  think  of  them 
no  more."  These  and  many  more  words  were 
hurriedly  uttered,  and  Maggie,  smiling  through  her 
tears,  nestled  lovingly  in  the  arms  outstretched  to 
enfold  her. 

After  a  short  silence,  Maggie  said,  "  Harry,  I  have 
concluded  to  join  the  church,  that  is,  if  you  desire 
me  to." 

"You  have!"  was  the  surprised  answer. 

"Yes,  I  thought  it  might  be  pleasanter  for  you, 
perhaps,"  she  added  hurriedly,  as  if  afraid  her  motives 
would  be  too  closely  questioned.  He  did  not  seem 
as  well  pleased  as  Maggie  expected  he  would  be,  so 
she  asked  rather  timidly  if  he  did  not  wish  her  to 
be  baptized  into  the  church. 

Harry  answered  in  a  more  serious  manner  than 
was  his  wont,  "Yes,  it  would  certainly  please  me, 


2C8  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

because  I  think  a  man  and  his  wife  should  be  of  one 
faith;  but,  my  wife,  if  you  should  ever  regret  it,  do 
not  blame  me.  Remember  that  in  spite  of  what  I 
have  said,  which  I  will  own  frankly  was  not 
meant,  I  did  not  urge  you  to  this  step,  and  if  you 
join  the  church,  it  must  be  of  your  own  free  will." 

"But,  Harry,  suppose  that  horrible  threat  should 
be  carried  out !  " 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  those  were  only  idle  words.  What 
man  or  set  of  men  in  the  world  could  force  me 
to  do  anything  against  my  will?" 

"Alas!  my  husband,  I  fear  they  were  not;  for 
though  we  have  only  been  here  a  very  short  time, 
yet  I  have  learned  a  great  deal,  and  besides,  my 
good  friend,  Mrs.  Parker,  has  been  telling  me  some 
fearful  things,"  and  she  related  their  conversation. 

"Mrs.  Parker  was  very  foolish,  Maggie,  to  alarm 
you  so.  I  have  no  doubt  but  many  things  have 
happened  that  need  explanation,  but  for  all  this,  you 
need  not  feel  afraid.  However,  if  you  are  willing, 
perhaps  it  is  just  as  well  that  you  join  the  church." 

"  Unless,  Harry,  we  might  return  to  the  old 
home,"  Maggie  said  eagerly. 

"  That  is  impossible  at  this  time  of  year,  we  may 
think  of  it  a  little  later.  Besides,  we  are  here,  and 
I  like  this  country  — " 

"Do  you  like  the  church,  Harry?"  interrupted 
his  wife. 

"  Don't  question  me  too  closely,"  he  laughed.  "  I 
shall  never  be  carried  away  by  anv  religion,  but 
this  one  suits  me  as  well  as  any,  and  to  be  frank,  I 


A   HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUKD.         269 

have  better  business  prospects  than  I  ever  had  in  my 
life  before,  for  this  is  a  growing  country,  and  I  be- 
lieve I  am  the  only  one  of  my  profession  in  the  city." 
"  Then,  Harry,  you  may  say  I  am  willing  to  be 
baptized,  but — I  do  not  wish  them  to  think  that  I 
consent  out  of  fear  of  their  threat.  My  only  motive 
is  that  our  life  may  flow  smoothly  on  in  the  old 
channel.  If  the  future  be  as  cloudless  as  the  past, 
I  shall  be  content,  but — " 
"Well,  dear?" 

"You  will  never  forget  the  Bolemn  promise  you 
made  me  on  the  first  night  we  entered  the  valley ; 
you  will  not  let  them  persuade  or  frighten  you  into 
polygamy,  will  you,  Harry?  "  Maggie  pleaded. 

"  Pshaw !  "  laughed  Harry,  "  what  a  jealous  little 
body  you  are.  There  is  no  fear  of  that,  for  I  despise 
the  practice  as  much  as  yourself." 

After  this  the  days  were  full  of  joy  for  Maggie. 
Love  was  life  to  her,  and  now  she  felt  perfect  trust 
and  confidence  in  her  husband.  When  the  day  for 
her  baptism  arrived,  she  went  into  the  water,  and 
received  the  blessings  calmly  and  earnestly,  with  a 
conscientious  desire  to  do  her  duty  faithfully,  think- 
ino-  also,  as  many  another  deluded  woman  has  done 
under  the  same  circumstances,  that  her  troubles  had 
ceased.  But,  alas,  she  found,  as  many  other  women 
have  done,  that  hers  was  only  a  brief  respite. 

"I  tell  you,  brother  Blake,  you  must  take  another 
Wife.  We  have  one  already  picked  out  for  you,  and 
she  is  pretty  enough  to  please  even  your  fastidious 
taste." 


270  WOMEN  OF  M0BM0NI8M. 

"  But  1  have  told  you  before,  that  I  do  not  want 
another  wife,"  replied  Harry  Blake,  "and  I  mean 
what  I  say." 

"Oh,  that's  nonsense;  you  don't  want  to  be  tied 
to  one  woman  for  life,  1  hope.  Just  go  to  see  this 
-irl  a  few  times,  and  I'll  warrant  you  will  soon 
change  your  mind." 

"No,  brother  Ellis,  I  think  not.  Let  us  talk  of 
something1  else." 

"But  I  tell  you,  you  must  take  another  wife, 
brother  Blake,  you  are  not  living  up  to  your  privi- 
leges. You  have  but  one  child,  and  the  church  tells 
us  to  marry  and  raise  up  children  to  increase  our 
kingdom." 

"  That  is  all  very  well  for  those  who  desire  it,  but 
I  am  content  as  I  am,  and  do  not  desire  to  enter 
polygamy." 

"I  must  say  you  are  very  ungrateful,  brother 
Blake;  the  ehureh  has  been  very  kind  to  you,  and 
placed  you  in  the  way  of  prospering  in  temporal 
affairs,  and  you  are  very  remiss  in  your  spiritual 
duties.  But  it  seems  I  must  make  my  meaning 
clearer;  the  church  commands  that  you  take  another 
wife,  ami  as  you  do  not  seem  inclined  to  take  my 
word  for  it,  although  I  am  your  presiding  bishop, 
I  hope  you  will  call  at  the  president's  office,  who 
will  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  my  words." 

The  speakers,  Harry  Blake  and  brother  Ellis, 
were  walking  quietly  along  (lie  street,  conversing  in 
an  undertone.  As  the  last  words  were  spoken, 
brother  Ellis  turned  and  left  his  companion  to  his 
own  meditations. 


I    HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.  271 

Hairy  Blake  quickened  his  steps  as  if  in  that 
way  he  could  dispel  the  disagreeable  impression  the 
conversation  had  caused.  Daily  association  with 
polygamy,  for  almost  all  his  friends  in  the  church 
were  polygamists,  had  lessened  his  horror  of  it  to  a 
certain  extent,  but  if  he  had  ever  thought  of  the 
monster's  invading  his  own  home  circle,  he  had 
thrust  it  aside  ere  the  thought  was  fully  born. 
Now,  lie  did  not  crush  it  out  of  his  mind,  but  lin- 
gered on  it  until  he  felt  ashamed  of  himself,  and  al- 
most ashamed  to  meet  the  pure  face  of  his  loving 
wife.  He  wandered  on  and  on,  till  the  twilight 
shadows  warned  him  of  the  day's  decline.  And 
when  he  turned  toward  home,  it  was  with  a  guilty 
feeling  in  his  heart. 

A  few  days  afterward  he  was  summoned  to  a 
"  special  interview  "  with  the  president  in  his  office, 
from  which  he  emerged  in  rather  an  agitated  frame 
of  mind.  However,  that  very  same  evening,  he 
made  a  very  careful  toilet,  and  when  Maggie  asked 
him  where  he  was  going,  the  reply  was,  "Only  to 
a  meeting  of  the  seventies." 

Although  no  thought  of  treachery  entered  her 
brain,  yet  she  felt  an  indefinable  dread  of  some 
coming  evil,  that  made  her  nervous  and  low-spirited 
throughout  the  evening.  This  feeling  increased  as 
the  days  went  on,  and  her  husband  avoided  her  eye, 
seeming  careless  and  indifferent  to  her  wishes  and 
feelings.  The  old  shadow  of  doubt  and  distrust  ever 
and  anon  loomed  up  before  her,  but  she  dare  not  put 
her  fear  into  words,  even  to  her  own  heart.     She 


272  WOMEN   OF  MOKMONISM. 

would  not  admit  there  was  anything  amiss,  lest  the 
fancy  become  a  reality.  She  would  crush  back  the 
cruel  thought  yet  a  little  longer.  The  winter  had 
passed  away,  and  the  pure  air  of  spring  was  fra- 
grant with  the  odor  of  blossoming  trees.  But  Mag- 
gie's heart  was  too  sad  to  enjo}^  this  beautiful  spring- 
time. 

One  morning  as  her  husband  left  the  house,  he 
said  to  himself,  "I  know  it  is  cruel  net  to  tell  he, 
but  I  cannot,  I  am  altogether  too  great  a  coward.  I 
will  get  her  friend,  Mrs.  Parker,  to  break  the  news 
to  her,  and  to  help  her  bear  up  under  it;  for  Mag- 
gie is  not  like  the  rest  of  the  women  in  this  countiy." 

When  her  friend  came,  Maggie  relieved  her  over- 
burdened heart,  by  telling  her  all  her  fears,  adding 
imploringly,  "  Tell  me,  do  you  think  he  could  break 
his  solemn  vow?  do  you  think  he  could  take  another 
wife?" 

Mrs.  Parker  took  her  in  her  arms,  kissing  her 
tenderly,  and  then  said  in  tremulous  tones,  "  My 
dear  child,  I  wish  I  could  comfort  you,  there  is 
great  sorrow  in  store  for  you." 

Maggie  started  up  in  affright,  but  the  words  she 
would  have  uttered  refused  to  pass  the  pale  lips. 
Seeing  her  distress,  the  old  lady  thought  it  best  to 
end  her  suspense.  "  How  can  I  tell  }rou  ?  "  she  said, 
"but  your  husband  is  to  go  through  the  Endow- 
ment House  this  very  day  with  one  of  brother  Ellis' 
granddaughters. 

When  Maggie  heard  those  fatal  words,  her  heart 
seemed  as  if  it  were  turning  to  stone,  her  brain  was 


Rev.  D.  J.  MrMILLAX, 

Superintendent  of  Presbyterian  Missions.  Utah. 


A  HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.  273 

on  fire,  and  in  that  moment  her  love  died.  She  now 
saw  her  husband's  treachery, — a  niee  reward  for  all 
her  faith  and  devotion  to  him, — and  she  felt  that  she 
could  strike  him  dead  without  the  slightest  com- 
punction, should  he  enter  her  presence  then.  But 
she  could  not  speak ;  it  seemed  as  if  an  iron  hand 
were  on  her  throat,  the  fingers  tightening  their  hold 
until  she  was  suffocating;  she  heard  a  voice  say, 
"My  child,  my  child,  don't  look  so!"  and  then 
darkness  encompassed  her.  The  fact;  of  her  friend, 
the  room  in  which  they  were  sitting,  faded  from  her 
sight,  and  in  their  place  she  saw  two  figures,  one  a 
young  girl,  scarce  more  than  a  child,  a  smile  on  the 
rosy  mouth,  love  shining  in  the  eyes  raised  to  a  face 
tenderly  bending  over  her;  the  other,  a  man  whose 
face  and  form  were  only  too  familiar,  for  they  were 
those  of  her  own  husband.  No,  not  her  husband, 
the  man  who  had  so  cruelly  deceived  her  had  for- 
feited all  right  to  that  sacred  title ;  henceforth  they 
should  be  nothing  but  strangers  to  each  other. 
While  she  looked  steadily  at  them  they  faded 
gradually  until  lost  to  view,  and  again  she  saw  the 
tearful,  sympathizing  face  of  her  dear  old  friend 
bending  over  her,  and  heard  the  kind  voice  saving, 
"  Thank  God,  you  have  recovered,"  and  her  little 
daughter  crying  at  her  side:  "Mamma,  don't  die, 
don't  leave  me,  mamma!  " 

Maggie  shuddered,  and  said  in  a  strange,  harsh 
voice,  "  I  have  seen  them,  and  I  will  kill  them  both." 
Mrs.  Parker  put  her  arms  around  the  poor  child, 
and  said  soothingly,  "  Seen  whom,  my  dear?" 

18 


274  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

Maggie  described  the  young  girl  she  had  seen  in 
her  vision  or  trance,  in  company  with  her  husband, 
and  continued,  "  Yes,  they  are  married;  but  if  they 
dare  to  enter  these  doors,  I  will  kill  them  as  sure  as 
there  is  a  God  in  heaven ! " 

The  old  lady,  who  had  experienced  all  these  feel- 
ings herself,  but  had  outlived  their  bitterness,  said  to 
her  gently  and  sorrowfully:  "  Calm  yourself,  my 
dear.  I  pity  you  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  but 
take  my  advice,  and  try  to  bear  the  burden  as 
bravely  as  you  can.  What  is  done  cannot  be 
undone,  and  if  you  are  rash  and  imprudent,  you 
may  cause  more  trouble  for  yourself  and  your  child 
than  you  have  any  idea  of  in  your  present  excited 
condition.  Remember  how  helpless  and  powerless 
we  Mormon  women  are,  and  how  they  always  stab 
us  through  the  hearts  of  our  children.  I  know  it 
is  a  heavy  cross,  but  may  the  good  Lord  give  you 
strength  to  bear  it.  Go  now  to  your  room  and  lie 
down,  and  I  will  stay  here  until  they  return,  and 
assist  you  all  I  can." 

When  Maggie  was  alone  with  her  child  in  her 
own  room,  she  became  again  almost  crazed,  and 
clasped  the  little  one  so  tightly  in  her  arms  that  she 
cried  out,  "  Don't,  mamma,  you  are  hurting  me;  let 
me  go  out  to  Aunty  Parker ! "  The  poor  heart- 
broken mother  tried  to  control  herself,  and  soothed 
the  child,  endeavoring  to  make  her  understand  as 
well  as  she  could  that  she  was  in  great  trouble,  so 
great  that  death  would  be  only  too  welcome,  were  it 
not  for  the  worse  anguish  of  leaving  her  alone  and 
friendless. 


A  HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         275 

Lilly,  who  was  intelligent  and  womanly  beyond 
her  years,  seemed  to  comprehend  it  all,  and  said,  as 
she  kissed  away  the  fast-falling  tears,  "  Never 
mind,  mamma,  you  have  me,  let  us  go  away  from 
here  together,  back  to  grandma,  and  then  every- 
thing will  be  all  right  again." 

Before  Maggie  could  answer,  they  heard  the  front 
door  open,  and  apparently  a  large  and  merry  com- 
pany entered  and  took  possession  of  the  house. 
During  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  evening,  foot- 
steps were  continually  coming  and  going,  and  peals 
of  laughter  ever  and  anon  reached  the  ears  of  the 
wretched  woman  whose  heart  was  being  so  cruelly 
crucified,  and  whose  terrible  grief  was  the  theme  of 
more  than  one  coarse  jest  down-stairs. 

Once  Mrs.  Parker  had  come  to  the  door  of  the 
room,  bringing  her  some  refreshments,  but  she  did 
not  dare  trust  herself  to  say  more  than  a  word  or  two 
to  the  wronged  and  outraged  wife.  Maggie  took  the 
food,  knowing  that  her  child  would  need  it  before 
morning,  and  then  she  closed  and  securely  fastened 
the  door,  after  warning  Mrs.  Parker  not  to  allow 
her  to  be  disturbed  on  any  account. 

How  she  lived  through  that  night  she  never  could 
tell.  When  morning  dawned  and  Lilly  awoke,  she 
said,  "  Why,  mamma,  you  look  just  like  Aunt  Agnes, 
when  she  was  sick  so  long.  What  is  the  matter? 
are  you  going  to  be  sick  too?  " 

"  No,  my  darling,  I  hope  not,"  she  answered,  try- 
ing to  smile,  and  walking  to  the  mirror,  she  pushed 
back  the  disheveled  locks  from  her  face,  and  looked 


276  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

to  see  if  one  night  could  have  wrought  such  a  change 
that  even  Lilly  should  mark  it  so  quickly. 

She  was  almost  frightened  herself  at  the  ghastly 
image  she  saw,  and  as  she  started  back,  Lilly  com- 
menced crying.  "  I  know  you  arc  sick,  mamma. 
You  are  going  to  die,  and  be  put  in  the  ground,  and 
then  what  shall  I  do?" 

While  soothing  the  grief  of  her  darling,  Maggie 
endeavored  to  look  into  the  future.  All  night  she 
had  lain  as  one  bereft  of  reason,  incapable  of 
thought;  but  now  she  must  decide  as  to  her  future 
course,  and  that  without  delay.  To  live  in  that 
house  now  would  be  an  utter  impossibility.  She  could 
work  for  her  child,  or  if  the  worst  must  come,  they 
could  die  together;  but  remain  with  him  she  would 
not. 

She  made  several  attempts  to  leave  the  room,  but 
her  courage  failed ;  she  would  have  to  wait  a  little 
longer;  she  dared  not  meet  them  yet;  she  would 
have  to  wait  until  she  was  less  reckless  of  conse- 
quences, until  she  could  be  sure  she  would  do  nothing 
rash,  that  would  result  in  more  trouble  for  her  inno- 
cent child.  When  she  did  at  last  succeed  in  leav- 
ing the  room,  he  had  left  the  house. 

When  Maggie  entered  the  cozy  little  dining-room, 
— now  her  oivn  no  longer, — the  new  wife,  a  sweet- 
looking,  fair,  young  girl,  scarce  more  than  a  child, 
was  engaged  in  clearing  away  the  breakfast  things. 
There  had  not  been  any  servant  in  the  house  for 
some  days,  as  her  faithful  Mary  had  married  rather 
suddenly,  and  her  place  was  not  yet  filled. 

When  she  heard  Maggie   enter,  she  turned  and 


A   HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         277 

asked  politely  if  she  could  prepare  anything- for  her; 
and  seeing  the  pour,  pale,  faded  face,  inquired 
kindly  if  she  were  ill.  Maggie  could  not  command 
her  voice  to  speak,  but  shook  her  head  as  she 
tottered  to  a  chair. 

Lilly  asked,  "  Have  you  come  to  work  for  us,  and 
what  is  your  name?  " 

The  girl  laughed  pleasantly  as  she  replied,  "My 
name   is    Rosa,  and   I    am  brother  Blake's  second 

*  j*      »» 

wire. 

"You  axe  not  my  papa's  wife,"  Lilly  exclaimed 
vehemently. 

"Yes,  1  am,  my  dear,"  Rosa  answered  quietly, 
"  that  is  if  brother  Blake  is  your  papa." 

"No,  you  are  not,"  reiterated  Lilly  angrily. 
"  Mamma  is  his  wife,  and  he  can't  have  any  other," 
and  she  stamped  her  tiny  foot.  Then,  as  if  a 
thought  had  struck  her,  she  added,  with  undisguised 
contempt  in  her  baby  voice,  "  I  guess  you  must  be 
one  of  my  papa's  women;  Jessie  Parker  told  me  her 
papa  had  lots  of  women,  so  perhaps  that  is  what 
you  mean.  Well,  you  will  have  to  do  the  work,  and 
mamma  will  boss  you,  as  Jessie's  mamma  does 
them,"  and  seating  herself  at  the  table  she  continued 
imperiously,  "I would  like  to  have  some  breakfast." 

Maggie  attempted  to  reprove  her,  but  found  she 
could  not  utter  a  syllable;  her  lips  parted,  but  no 
sound  came  from  them.  'Although  this  was  the 
woman  that  had  stolen  what  was  dearest  to  her  on 
earth, — the  heart  of  her  husband,— yet  she  was  too 
thorough  a  lady,  and  too  just  a  woman  to  permit 
Lilly  to  deliberately  insult  her. 


278  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

But  Rosa  did  not  seem  in  the  least  offended,  she 
was  accustomed  to  hear  Mormon  children  speak  in 
far  more  contemptuous  terms  of  plural  wives,  so  she 
only  smiled  pleasantly,  and  waited  upon  Lilly  as  if 
she  had  been  the  servant  of  the  house.  While  Lilly 
was  eating  her  breakfast,  Maggie  rose  from  her 
chair,  thinking  that  she  would  return  to  her  room 
and  remain  there  until  li<>  should  comeback;  but  she 
staggered,  and  would  have  fallen  if  Rosa  had  not 
sprung  to  her  assistance. 

Perhaps  this  second  wife  realized  in  part  the 
depth  of  her  anguish,  and  seeing  how  helpless  she 
was,  Rosa  helped  her  to  her  room,  and  laid  her  on 
the  bed.  She  was  a  good,  kind-hearted  girl,  and 
was  not  altogether  to  blame  for  the  misery  her  pres- 
ence in  the  household  had  brought  to  Maggie.  From 
her  earliest  babyhood  she  had  been  taught  that  her 
salvation  depended  on  celestial  marriage,  that  her 
soul  would  be  forever  lost  unless  she  was  sealed  to 
some  good  brother  in  the  church.  So  when  she  was 
told  it  was  decided  by  the  priesthood  that  she  should 
marry  brother  Blake,  she  never  dreamed  of  objecting 
for  one  moment,  especially  as  she  had  heard  him 
discussed  frequently,  and  set  down  as  a  very  desir- 
able match.  He  was  reputed  to  be  well-off,  able  to 
maintain  in  comfort  a  much  larger  family  than  he 
possessed,  which  was  a  very  great  inducement;  for 
even  in  her  short  life,  poor  Rosa  had  seen  enough  of 
the  poverty  side  of  polygamy  to  dread  that,  although 
she  was  too  faithful  a  Saint  to  disobey  any  counsel 
given  by  the  authority  of  the  church. 

But  we  must  do  her  the  justice  to  say  that  in 


A   HEART   HISTORY  CONTINUED.         279 

being  sealed  to  Harry  Blake,  she  did  not  exult  over 
the  prospect  of  bringing  humiliation  or  sorrow  to 
Maggie,  as  only  too  many  young  girls  in  her 
position  have  done.  She  simply  thought  polygamy 
must  be  all  right  because  she  had  always  been 
taught  so,  and  of  course  it  was  to  her  advantage  to 
secure  as  rich  and  us  good  a  man  as  possible.  If  she 
ever  thought  of  the  sorrow  that  the  first  wife  would 
endure,  it  was  in  a  vague,  desultory  manner,  or  as 
something  which  was  a  matter  of  course,  which 
could  not  be  helped  one  way  or  the  other. 

And  this  is  the  way  in  which  hundreds  of  young- 
girls  reason  to  themselves,  if  they  think  of  this  phase 
of  the  subject  at  all:  "Of  course  the  first  wife  will 
feel  bad  for  awhile,  but  it  will  soon  pass  over,  and  it 
will  be  just  the  same  if  he  marries  any  other  girl." 
Their  moral  natures  have  become  so  deadened,  and 
their  finer  susceptibilities  so  blunted,  by  daily  contact 
with  the  monster,  that  they  cannot  realize  there  is 
any  holiness  or  sanctity  about  the  marriage  tie,  and 
that  it  is  a  deadly  crime  against  God  and  nature  to 
come  between  two  whom  that  sacred  ordinance  has 
made  one.  Instead  of  marriage  being  the  symbol  of 
a  spiritual  bond  between  two  souls,  their  education 
has  taught  them  to  consider  it  simply  as  a  compact 
1  letween  one  man  and  an  indefinite  number  of  wo- 
men, made  for  the  sole  purpose  of  bringing  children 
into  the  world  to  build  up  the  man's  kingdom  on 
earth,  so  that  he  may  be  a  monarch  and  ruler  in  the 
celestial  world. 

Rosa  was  naturally  a  pure,  innocent,  affectionate 
child,  worthy  of  a  better  fate;  but  what  soul  could 


280  WOMEN   OF  MOHMOXISM. 

he  subjected  to  such  infamous  teachings,  and  escape 
without  a  stain? 

Strange  to  say,  when  Maggie  first  saw  her,  she 
did  not  feel  that  bitter  resentment  that  she  thought 
she  should;  her  hatred  and  indignation  were  directed 
toward  him,  the  man  she  had  so  devotedly  loved, 
and  so  blindly  trusted;  for  he  had  not  married  this 
girl,  she  was  fully  assured,  from  religious  motives. 
No,  it  was  her  youth  and  beauty  which  hail  won  his 
love,  and  made  him  false  to  the  wife  who  had  sacri- 
ficed her  all  for  him. 

For  several  days,  Maggie's  life  hovered  on  the 
borders  of  the  dark  river.  Rosa  waited  on  her 
faithfully  and  kindly,  and  her.  friend  Mrs.  Parker 
watched  by  her  bedside  night  and  day.  During  her 
hours  of  delirium,  her  conscience-stricken  husband — 
for  he  was  not  yet  entirely  callous — would  steal  into 
the  room  and  minister  to  her  wants;  but  at  the  first 
indication  of  returning  consciousness,  he  would  van- 
ish like  the  guilty  creature  he  was;  he  could  not 
meet  the  eye  of  the  woman  he  had  so  cruelly  de- 
ceived and  wronged. 

During  all  those  long  days  of  suffering,  after  the 
delirium  had  tied,  Maggie  spoke  rarely,  and  then 
to  no  one  but  her  child.  It  seemed  as  if  she 
would  be  dumb  for  the  rest  of  her  days;  her  voice 
refused  to  act,  and  it  was  only  in  whispers  thai  she 
could  speak  to  Lilly.  Had  she  remained  bereft  of 
reason  she  would  have  suffered  less,  but  who  can  de- 
pict the  anguish  of  thai  crushed  and  bleeding  heart: 
A.t  last,  strength  came  back  gradually,  but  the  wo- 
man who  pose  from   that   bed  of  sickness  was  a  dif- 


A   HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.         281 

ferent  creature  from  the  former  trustful  and  affec- 
tionate Maggie  Blake 

One  morning  Rosa  said  that  if  Maggie  was  well 
enough  to  be  left  alone,  she  and  Harrv  would  like  to 
go  away  for  a  day  or  two.  Maggie  received  the  an- 
nouncement without  further  comment  than  the  sim- 
ple  words  that  she  was  perfectly  well.  She  had  al- 
ready decided  upon  her  course.  She  would  have  the 
day  to  herself,  and  could  make  her  preparations  for 
Bight  without  interruption;  but  she  dared  not  give 
any  sign  of  the  feeling  of  relief  and  thankfulness 
with  which  she  saw  Rosa  leave  the  house. 

The  first  task  before  her  was  to  gather  her  own 
and  her  child's  clothing  together,  ami  she  set  about 
this  as  quickly  as  her  weakness  permitted.  Busy, 
and  absorbed  in  painful  thought,  she  did  not  hear  a 
footstep  outside,  and  only  raised  her  head  when  the 
door  opened  to  admit  her  husband.  The  shock  of 
his  unexpected  appearance  at  the  moment  when  she 
was  preparing  to  leave  him  forever,  quite  overcame 
her,  and  she  said-:  helplessly  into  the  nearest  chair, 
with  both  hands  pressed  over  her  heart  to  still  its 
throbbings. 

Harry  Looked  at  her  a  moment  in  silence.  A  lit- 
tle pity,  a,  little  remorse,  stirred  within  him  as  he 
mentally  contrasted  the  haggard  face  and  wasted 
form  with  a.  vision  that  rose  from  the  past, — that  of 

the  fair  young  girl  he  had  w 1   and  won  in  those 

years  whose  memory  he  would  gladly  banish  if  he 
could.  Very  gently  he  laid  his  hand  on  the  bowed 
head,  and  pronounced  her  name.     The  aet,  the  tone, 


282  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

roused  her,  and  she  faced  him  with  the  look  of  a 
hunted  creature  at  bay. 

"You  dare  to  touch  me  and  speak  to  me  like 
that  ?  "  she  cried.  "  You,  who  have  made  me  what  I 
am !  You,  who  have  not  only  broken  my  heart,  and 
made  my  life  a  burden,  but  have  killed  all  the  good 
in  me!  " 

"  Maggie,  surely  you  do  not  know  what  you  are 
saying." 

"  Do  I  not?  then  hear  me  repeat  it,  and  remember 
what  I  say,  for  they  are  the  last  words  I  will  ever 
speak  to  you.  Before  this  day  ends,  I  will  leave 
your  house  with  my  child, — leave  this  accursed  coun- 
try forever." 

"You  will? "  the  man's  face"  hardened,  and  every 
impulse  of  pity  or  compassion  was  instantly  crushed. 
"Then  hear  me.  You  may  go  where  you  please, 
but  Lilly  stays  with  me." 

For  a  moment  she  looked  at  him  in  a  dazed  sort 
of  way,  as,  though  not  comprehending  the  meaning 
of  his  words;  then,  as  the  truth  dawned  upon  her, 
and  she  realized  her  own  utter  helplessness,  her  pride 
forsook  her,  and  falling  on  her  knees,  with  clasped 
hands  she  plead  that  the  sentence  might  be  re- 
voked,—that  she  might  be  permitted  to  take  her 
child  somewhere — anywhere,  only  out  of  sight  of 
the  home  that  was  hers  no  longer. 

"This  is  folly,  and  worse  than  folly,"  Harry 
answered,  "and  you  will  see  it  yourself  in  a  little 
while.  Your  home  is  here.  You  and  Lilly  have  every 
want  supplied,  and  if  you  cannot  agree  with  Rosa, 


A  HEART  HISTORY  CONTINUED.  283 
why  keep  to  your  own  apartments,  and  I  will  see 
that  she  keeps  to  hers."  > 

Why  protract  the  recital  of  an  experience  that 
has  been  lived  over  so  many  tiu.es  in  Utah?  The 
unhappy  Wife  and  mother  was  helpless,  and  did  as 
t;,l^plessu1u.t)-sul>unttedtoherfat,  Sunk  in 
the  apathy  of  despair,  she  lived  on  for  months  and 
years  -for  it  is  only  in  books  that  people  die  when 
all  that  makes  life  worth  living-  is  gone  M^ry 
(lid  the  work  of  years  in  bleaching  her  hair  and 
furrowing  her  face;  and  when  at  last  the  boon  so 
long  prayed  for  was  granted,  and  she 

-  Bound  the  slow  bleeding  of  her  stricken  heart 
With  the  chill  comfort  of  the  sepulcher," 

no  one,  looking  into  her  open  <f*-*fL*^ 
dreamed  that  she  who  lay  there  had  lived  out  but 
half  of  her  allotted  time  on  earth.  She  sleeps  to- 
day in  the  bleak,  barren  burial-place  over-looking 
the  beautiful  city  in  which  her  husband  lives  with 
the  three  women  who  have  been  "sealed  to  him 
for  time  and  eternity." 

She  has  one  mourner,-the  child  for  whose  sake 
she  bore  the  burden  of  life.     And  when  Lilly  brings 
her  weekly  offerings  of  flowers,  and  lays  them  on  the 
unmarked  grave,   a   woman    comes  with  her    and 
stands  beside  her  with  pale  face  and  bowed  head 
It  is  Rosa,  who,  supplanted  by  later  favorites    and 
experiencing    in    her    own   life   something    of    the 
sorrows  of  her  who  lies  here  at  rest,  seeks  to  make 
atonement  to  the  dead  by  kindness  to  the  child  she 
has  left. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

The  People  of  the  Nation  Have  the  Power.-  The  Let-Alone 
Policy  not  Sufficient.  — Steady  Influx  of  Foreigners. — Conceal- 
ment of  Second  Marriages. — Mothers  Will  not  Make  Known 
the  Fathers  of  Their  Children. —  Mrs.  Young's  Letter. — Danger 
to  the  Nation. — "'Danger  to  Every  Household  in  America." — 
Mormon  Church  at  Covington,  Iml.  -Mormonism  in  Mich- 
igan.— Canton,  111. — Young  Girl  in  Colorado. — An  Appeal. 
— Young  Lady  in  Indiana.  —  An  Infatuated  Daughter  in  Mass- 
achusetts.— Will  Another  War  be  Needed? 

k'XE  of  the  most  specious  and  dangerous 
arguments  which  has  Loon  advanced  as  a 
reason  why  Congress  should  not  take 
measures  to  arrest  the  evils  of  Mormonism, 
and  one  that  has  influenced  the  opinion  of 
thousands  of  well-meaning,  intelligent,  and 
law-abiding  citizens,  is  the  plea  that  if  left  alone, 
Mormonism  will  execute  its  own  death  sentence. 
Never  was  there  a  more  fatal  and  less  excusable 
mistake, — an  error  that  if  perpetuated  will  become  a 
deadly  crime. 

There  are  other  crimes  also,  which  bind  the  wrists 
of  justice.  The  great  railroad  corporations  which 
practically  rule  Congress,  many  of  the  huge  whole- 
sale business  houses  which  sell  goods  to  the  Mormon 
merchants,  and  a  great  number  of  the  commercial 

(284) 


SPREAD   OF  MORMONISM.  285 

newspapers,  are  covert  friends  of  the  Mormons,  and 
covert  enemies  of  all  who  would  have  United  Stat*  s 
laws  obeyed  in  Utah.  But  beyond  Congress,  a 
majority  of  whose  members  go  to  the  legislative 
halls  bound  hand  and  foot  to  corporations,  there 
are  the  people,  and  when  they  become  aroused  in 
earnest,  corporations  and  a  venal  press  are  all  too 
fflad  to  hedge,  and  to  become  as  furious  in  attack 
as  before  they  were  subtle  to  frame  reasons  why 
nothing  should  be  done.  It  was  so  in  the  old  slavery 
days;  it  has  always  been  so.  When  the  people  of 
the  United  States  understand  that  the  leaders  of 
the  Mormon  church,  knowing  the  utter  fraud  of  the 
entire  institution,  employ  it  as  a  gigantic  political 
and  commercial  machine  in  order  to  impose  upon, 
rob,  and  make  slaves  of  the  masses;  that  their 
weapons  toward  their  people  are  superstition  and 
ignorance,  and  toward  the  world  hypocrisy  and 
perjury;  and  that  beyond  all,  they  are  doing  what 
they  can  to  overthrow  all  respect  for,  and  all  power 
of,  the  United  States  Government, — then  avaricious 
merchants,  soulless  corporations,  and  a  subsidized 
press,  will  stand  aside,  even  as  they  did  in  1861,  and 
the  ivill  of  the  people  must  prevail.  It  is  essential, 
then,  that  the  people  should  not  be  misled  by  false 
theories,  or  specious  arguments,  nor  by  those  who 
willfully  circulate  falsehoods  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
tarding or  preventing  the  administration  of  justice. 
The  let-alone  theory  is  a  very  plausible  one,  and 
the  let-alone  policy  a  very  satisfying  one,  for  those 
who  do  not  wish  to  bear  the  reproaches  of  conscience 


286  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

for  neglect  of  duty.  It  is  very  easy  to  say,  "  Mor- 
monism  is  a  crime,  and  a  disgrace  to  the  nation.  It 
ought  to  be,  and  shall  be,  abolished,  but  there  are 
other  methods  than  congressional  interference." 

Yes,  we  answer,  there  are  other  methods,  and  so 
thought  those  who  were  continually  opposing  the  old 
Anti-Slavery  agitation.  But  those  "  other  methods  " 
terminated  in  the  blood  and  wreck  of  a  civil  war. 

It  is  also  very  easy  to  say,  "  Open  the  doors  of 
Utah  to  the  outside  world,  and  let  civilization, 
wealth,  fashion,  luxury,  and  culture  pour  in.  These 
will  prove  more  effective  than  the  most  stringent 
legislation." 

Even  people  who  have  been  in  the  Territory,  and 
think  they  have  studied  the  subject,  will  say,  "  Send 
bandboxes  instead  of  troops  to  Utah.  "  Let  the 
milliners  and  dressmakers  have  full  sway,  and  they 
will  soon  make  it  impossible  for  a  man  to  have  more 
than  one  wife.  Then  let  schools,  churches,  and 
civilization  (that  much  abused  and  misappropriated 
word)  do  the  rest." 

These  people  will  do  well  to  remember  that  the 
gates  of  Utah  have  now  been  opened  to  the  world 
for  more  than  ten  years,  and  that  the  great  trans- 
continental railroad,  which  the  advocates  of  the  let- 
alone  policy  contended  would  destroy  the  barbaric 
institution,  has  actually  given  the  system  the  means 
of  indefinite  growth,  enlargement,  and  power.  Look 
at  the  facilities  for  importing  whole  cargoes  of  for- 
eign dupes  and  slaves,  as  compared  with  those  of 
twenty  years  ago !     Then,  the  long,  toilsome  journey 


SPREAD   OF  MORMONISM.  287 

over  the  plains  by  ox-teams,  or  perhaps  on  foot, 
with  household  and  personal  effects  in  a  hand-cart, 
was  a  matter  not  to  be  lightly  considered,  or  under- 
taken without  a  large  measure  of  faith  and  courage. 
Now,  the  iron  horse  whirls  them  over  that  ground 
in  a  very  few  days,  and  in  such  numbers  that  the 
railroad  companies  deem  them  not  unprofitable 
travelers,  even  at  very  low  rates  of  transportation. 

Who  has  not  marked  in  the  coast  journals  almost 
every  week  from  early  spring  to  late  in  the  fall,  the 
announcement  that  another  ship-load  of  Mormon 
immigrants  has  arrived  en  route  for  Utah  ? 

And  when  it  is  recollected  that  a  large  majority 
of  these  imigrants  are  gathered  from  the  most 
ignorant  and  credulous  classes  of  Europe,  that  they 
are  steeped  in  superstitious  fanaticism,  and  already 
shorn  of  manhood  and  womanhood  by  being  pledged 
to  obey  their  leaders  in  all  things,  temporal  as  well 
as  spiritual,  it  may  easily  be  seen  how  the  system  is 
kept  up  in  Utah  by  these  constant  reinforcements. 

A  late  writer  in  Harper 's  Magazine  has  remarked 
with  great  truth  that,  "  But  for  the  steady  influx 
of  foreigners — low,  base-born  foreigners,  hereditary 
bondmen, — the  two  dreadful  features  of  the  Mor- 
mon church,  polygamy  and  the  exalting  of  the 
Church  over  the  State,  would  die  out  in  America  in 
two  generations." 

But  instead  of  dying  out,  one  feature,  polygamy, 
is  alarmingly  on  the  increase.  The  Mormon  priest- 
hood know  only  too  well  that  they  have  an  addi- 
tional fetter   on   a  man  when  he  becomes  a    law- 


288  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

breaker;  consequently,  men  arc  continually  being 
urged  into  polygamy,  who,  if  let  alone,  would  never 
think  of  committing  that  crime. 

The  times  may  not  be  quite  as  bad  as  the  old 
''Reformation"  period,  but  there  is  no  disguising 
the  fact  that  the  Mormons  weld  their  forces  together 
by  polygamy,  and  more  of  these  plural  alliances 
have  taken  place  lately  than  can  be  estimated  or 
even  imagined. 

People  who  have  every  opportunity  for  knowing, 
state  as  an  undeniable  fact,  that  hundreds  of  first 
wives  are  wretched  beyond  expression  because  they 
are  afraid  their  husbands  have  taken  other  wives, 
though  they  have  not  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  it. 
The  men  of  course  deny  it,  but  there  are  many 
attending  circumstances  which  go  to  prove  that  they 
are  acting  under  orders  in  declaring  what  is  not 
true. 

It  seems  to  be  the  present  policy  to  conceal  second 
marriages  from  the  first  wife,  especially  if  it  be 
thought  that  she  cannot  be  implicitly  trusted,  so 
that  if  she  should  be  inclined  to  prosecute  her  hus- 
band,  she  has  not  the  slightest  evidence  against  him. 
The  plural  women  are  sworn  to  the  greatest  secrecy, 
and  are  even  enjoined  to  deny  the  paternity  of  their 
infants,  rather  than  compromise  their  saintly  hus- 
bands. 

Almost  any  day  in  the  week,  women  may  be 
seen  in  the  streets  of  Salt  Lake  City,  carrying 
infants  whose  fathers  they  would  not  reveal  under 
torture.     If  it  came  to  an  issue,  and  these  women 


Mrs.    ANN  ELIZA  YOUNG. 


SPREAD  OF  MOBMONISM.  289 

were  brought  into  court,  they  would  declare  under 
oath  that  they  were  never  married  to  any  man, 
and  did  not  know  who  were  the  fathers  of  their 
children. 

The  demoralizing  influences  of  the  system  are  now 
being  felt  in  hundreds  of  homes  which  only  a  few 
months  ago  were  as  happy  as  pure.  Hundreds  upon 
hundreds  of  children  have  been  and  will  be  ushered 
into  the  world,  the  innocent  victims  of  priestly 
tyranny  and  licentiousness.  And  yet,  while  this 
system  is  daily  spreading  and  being  strengthened  in 
Utah  and  the  adjacent  Territories,  the  people  of  the 
country  do  not  seem  to  be  much  concerned.  They 
even  complacently  assert  that  Congress  has  no  right 
to  interfere  in  the  matter.  The  system  must  be  left 
to  die  out  before  the  influences  of  Gentile  fashions ! 

It  is  not  so  much  of  foreign  reinforcements  to 
Mormonism  that  this  chapter  designs  to  treat,  as  of 
the  spread  of  the  evil  in  our  own  country,  and  the 
consequent  danger  to  American  homes.  The  follow- 
ing statements  of  recent  personal  experience  are  from 
the  able  and  trenchant  pen  of 

Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  think  Mormonism  is 
a  matter  about  which  the  American  people  need  not 
concern  themselves,  or  who  believe  that  it  is  confined 
to  Utah,  and  is  even  there  in  process  of  self-extinc- 
tion, I  write  of  some  late  experiences  of  mine,  and 
other  facts  which  decidedly  negative  these  ideas. 

To  those  who  know  what  Mormonism  is, — what 
19 


200  WOMEN  OF  M0EM0NI8M. 

its  designs  are,  and  what  it  will  Boon  be  able  to 
accomplish, — the  indifference  to  the  subjed  shown  by 
so  many  intelligent  people  is  simply  astounding! 
They  may  have  read  in  history  of  religious  fanati- 
cism, and  the  bloody  wars  it  has  caused,  but  they  do 
not  realize  that  Mormonism  contains  all  the  element-. 
for  producing  such  a  conflict.  They  know  that  the 
issue  of  a  contest  for  the  presidency  may  depend  upon 
a  single  vote,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  remember  that 
with  Utah  admitted  as  a  State,  the  Mormon  chureh 
may  hold  that  decisive  vote,  and  may  demand  and 
obtain,  as  the  price  of  that  vote,  privileges  which 
would  add  ten-fold  to  its  power  for  mischief!  I 
am  glad  that  the  Governor  of  Utah  has  taken  so 
brave  a  stand,  and  that  the  Governor  of  Idaho  lias 
sounded  the  note  of  alarm.  We  know  that  their 
fears  are  not  groundless.  In  addition  to  the  Territo- 
ries,— Utah,  Idaho,  and  Arizona, — in  which  the  Mor- 
mons now  hold  the  balance  of  political  power,  it  will 
not  be  long,  according  to  present  appearances,  before 
Colorado,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  and  perhaps  Oregon, 
will  be  in  a  like  condition. 

These  facts  cannot  be  repeated  too  often,  nor  with 
too  great  emphasis.  Those  who  do  not  care  for  "  the 
balance  of  political  power,"  may  be  aroused  by  call- 
ing attention  to  the  fact  that  the  fairest  and  richest 
valleys,  and  the  best  town  sites,  are  being  taken  up 
by  Mormon  colonies.  It  often  happens  that  the 
Mormons  control  the  schools,  but  not  at  all  in  the 
interests  of  good  education.  And  the  fact  thai  a 
family  will  have  Mormon  neighbors,  with  the  deha— 


SPREAD   OF  MORMONISM.  291 

ing  practices  of  polygamy  under  their  eyes,  con- 
taminating- and  corrupting  their  children,  will 
certainly  be  no  inducement  for  them  to  settle  in  such 
a  locality. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  the  "far  West  "  that  Polyg- 
amic Mormonism  is  at  work,  and  at  work  earnestly 
and  successfully.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  place  is 
secure  from  its  attack,  no  home  sacred  from  its 
encroachments. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  Mormonism  origi- 
nated in  Central  New  York,  among  people  whose 
religious  culture  was  of  the  highest  kind.  It  is  a 
fact  that  should  be  more  widely  known  than  it  is, 
that  the  Mormon  missionaries  are  reaping  rich 
harvests  in  the  Southern  States.  In  Georgia  alone, 
many  hundreds  of  converts  have  been  made,  and  dis- 
patched  to  Utah  and  Colorado.  From  one  place  in 
Kentucky,  twenty  proselytes  were  forwarded  to 
I '  t .- 1 1 1  last  spring,  and  Mormon  emissaries  are  doing 
a  deadly  work  even  in  cultured  New  England  and 
the  enlightened  Middle  States.  It  is  only  a  short 
time  since  a  number  of  converts  were  made  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Oberlin,  Ohio,  almost  within  the 
shallow  of  that  well-known  and  widely  influential 
<  'hristian  College.  The  emigration  and  spread  of 
Mormonism  in  the  Territories  and  some  of  the 
Western  States  is  terrible  to  think  of.  And  yet  in 
the  face  of  all  this,  our  newspapers  have  little  to  say 
against  the  crime,  and  some  of  them  raise  the  cry  of 
"  persecution"  if  the  ( rovernment  shows  the  slightest 
signs  of  dealing  with  it. 


■1\)-1  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

The  people  <lo  not  know  tin:  institution.  They 
think  and  often  say,  "  It  will  never  hurt  us  or 
ours."  But  there  is  danger  to  every  household  in 
America,  as  the  following  incidents  will  show: — 

I  went  to  ( lovington;  Ind.,  recently  to  fulfill  a 
lecture  engagement.  1  found  there  three  Mormon 
missionaries,  actively  engaged  in  preaching  Mormon- 
ism  and  polygamy.  But  so  quietly  and  cunningly 
had  these  men  conducted  their  work,  that  many  of 
the  best  people  in  the  place  had  no  realization  of  the 
mischief  that  had  been  done,  although  the  work 
had  been  going-  on  for  nearly  three  years. 

My  lecture  seemed  to  have  aroused  the  first  general 
attention  to  the  subject.  -There  was  an  organized 
church  of  fifteen  or  twenty  Polygamic  Mormons, 
and  the  number  was  constantly  increasing.  Their 
meetings  were  held  in  a  Methodist  church,*  a  short 
distance  from  the  town. 

The  elders  and  several  of  their  converts  attended 
my  lecture,  and  it  was  plain  that  the  audience, 
although  evidently  much  interested  in  the  subject, 
were  so  decidedly  influenced  by  Mormonism  that 
they  hesitated  to  show  positive  approval  of  words 
which  directly  attacked  and  condemned  the  proselyt- 
ing there  going  on.  They  a  "ted  as  though  they 
had  come  to  regard  the  system  as  having  some 
respectability,  or  to  feel  that  policy  demanded  silence 
when  it  was  attacked. 

*  Tin'  trustees  of  that  church  are  either  extremely  Ignorant  or 
almost  criminally  Indifferent.     It.  Is  certainly nol  true  "liberality" 

to  permit,  those  Mm- n  elilers  to  scatter  "firebrands,  arrows,  and 

death,"  as  they  arc  doing  In  thai  community.  —  Editor. 


SPREAD  OF  MORMONISM.  293 

I  must  not  be  understood  to  say  that  Mormonism  is 
predominant  in  the  place.  The.  best  people  are  now 
thoroughly  awakened  to  the  evil  which  has  so  long- 
been  developing  itself  among  them.  They  not  only 
showed  me  great  kindness,  but  sympathized  with 
my  work.  They  asked  me  to  give  a  second  lecture, 
which  I  did.  But  it  was  alarming  to  find  Utah 
Mormonism  existing,  tolerated,  making  proselytes,  in 
such  a  place.  It  may  appear  to  some  a  little  thing, 
but  I  hope  that  the  great  majority  of  my  readers 
will  see  what  it  reveals.  The  Mormon  leaders 
desire  only  to  be  "let  alone."  Their  missionaries 
work  quietly  and  cunningly  until  a  few  converts 
are  made.  Social  and  business  relations, — "  policy," — 
cause  many  to  be  silent,  and  some  to  excuse.  Before 
the  people  are  aware  of  it,  the  evil  becomes  estab- 
lished. Sometimes  the  missionaries  are  helped  by  a 
mistaken  "liberality."  The  newspapers  at  Coving- 
ton had  not  only  said  nothing  against  Mormonism, 
but  I  was  informed  that  their  columns  had  been  open 
for  the  use  of  the  Mormon  elders. 

If  this  was  the  first  instance  of  Polygamic  Mor- 
monism in  the  United  States,  it  would  not  seem  so 
serious,  but  it  is  only  one  among  many  thousand 

cases. 

In  Northern  Michigan,  converts  are  constantly 
being  made.  I  have  been  told,  upon  seemingly  reli- 
able authority,  that  polygamy  is  actually  practiced 
there,  one  man  having  six  wives,  and  another  two. 
1  cannot  vouch  myself  for  the  truth  of  the  state- 
ment,, but  I  have  heard  it  repeated  several  times, 


294  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

and  believe  that  it  is  true.  One  of  my  informants 
claimed  to  have  boarded  in  a  Mormon  family  where 
the  man  had  two  wives.  But  such  is  the  slavery  of 
Mormonism  that  if  this  man  were  arraigned  for  bi£- 
amy,  the  probabilities  are  that  both  women  would 
swear  in  court  that  he  was  only  married  to  one  of 
them,  that  the  other  was  an  inmate  of  the  house- 
hold in  some  other  capacity.  To  each  other  they 
will  not  only  excuse  their  atrocious  falsehood,  but 
consider  it  a  meritorious  action.  Truth  with  them 
means  simply  that  to  a  brother  Mormon  they  must 
be  true.  The  rule  does  not  apply  at  all  where  out- 
siders are  concerned.  It  is  by  this  means  that  the 
courts  are  baffled  in  Utah,  and  justice  defeated. 

At  the  close  of  a  lecture  delivered  at  Canton,  111., 
a  lad  of  about  sixteen  came  behind  the  scenes,  and 
introduced  himself  to  me.  He  was  so  bright,  intel- 
ligent and  well-informed  that  he  seemed  much  more 
like  a  grown  man  than  a  boy.  He  expressed  his 
sorrow  at  hearing  me  speak  so  harshly  of  Mor- 
monism, and  said  he  hoped  I  would  see  the  error  of 
my  way  before  it  was  too  late. 

I  asked  in  surprise,  "Are  you  a  Mormon?  " 

He  replied  that  he  was,  and  that  his  parents  had 
recently  been  converted  by  Mormon  missionaries, 
who  had  been  that  evening  in  my  audience.  He 
said  he  knew  they  were  good  men.  He  was  so  en- 
thusiastic and  vehement  that  at  first  I  was  speech- 
less from  astonishment.  I  asked  him  how  he  knew 
they  were  good  men. 

He  replied,  "  By  the  way  they  talk." 


SPREAD  OF  MORMONISM.  295 

I  told  him  that  hypocrites  and  fanatics  might 
talk  well,  that  he  must  not  judge  people  by  what 
they  said  alone  I  also  told  him  how  I  was  born 
and  reared  in  Mormonism,  and  had  had  full  oppor- 
tunity to  see  its  baneful  results;  that  my  knowl- 
edge had  come  through  terrible  suffering,  while  he 
had  but  the  words  of  those  men  from  which  to  form 
conclusions.  He  said  it  would  be  impossible  for  me 
to  destroy  his  faith,  and  that  he  and  all  his  family 
were  soon  going  to  Utah 

I  inquired  about  the  matter,  and  found  that  his 
statements  were  true.  I  was  informed  that  the 
family  had  been  universally  respected  before  their 
conversion  to  Mormonism,  and  that  the  people  of 
Canton  felt  great  regret  at  their  course.  This  lad 
was  as  bright,  intelligent,  and  handsome  a  boy  as 
any  mother  ever  need  wish  for,  and  it  made  my 
heart  ache  to  think  of  his  future  under  Mormon  in- 
fluences. 

I  found  an  intelligent  and  well-educated  lady,  a 
teacher  in  a  public  school  in  Iowa,  who  avowed  her 
firm  belief  in  the  Mormon  doctrines,  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  she,  too,  will  soon  find  her  way  to 
the  promised  land.  May  Heaven  comfort  her 
when  the  day  of  her  awakening  comes ! 

But  the  case  which  touched  me  most  of  all  was 
that  of  a  young  girl  from  Colorado.  She  was  scut 
to  Utah  by  her  parents  for  the  benefit  of  her  health, 
in  the  summer  of  1879.  The  Christian  Gentile  fam- 
ily to  whom  she  had  letters  of  introduction  were 
temporarily  absent,  and  she  was  unfortunate  enough 


296  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

to  be  directed  to  the  house  of  a  Mormon  elder,  who 
keeps  a  number  of  boarders.  There  she  met  an 
other  prominent  Mormon  polygamist,  the  editor  of 
the  Mormon  church  organ.  She  spent  but  two 
weeks  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  what  black  arts 
they  employed  to  pervert  and  fascinate  her  young 
mind  I  cannot  conceive;  but  she  returned  to  her 
home  not  only  a  baptized  convert,  but  determined 
to  go  back  to  Utah  and  there  spend  her  life.  Her 
parents  were  horrified  to  learn  the  change  that  had 
come  over  their  daughter.  From  being  an  inno- 
cent and  pure-minded  girl,  she  had  come  to  believe 
in  the  horrible  doctrines  of  Mormon  polygamy. 
She  carried  on  a  secret  correspondence  with  the 
high-minded  and  honorable  editor.  This  the  par- 
ents accidentally  discovered.  They  also  ascer- 
tained that  he  had  asked  her  to  be  sealed  to  him  as 
a  plural  wife,  while  she  was  in  Utah,  and  was  now 
urging  her  by  letter  to  return  and  make  her  home 
at  his  house.  The  intense  grief  and  strong  opposi- 
tion of  her  parents  caused  her  to  postpone  for  some 
months  her  departure  for  Utah,  but  her  determina- 
tion remained  unchanged.  This  girl's  father  was  a 
lawyer,  she  herself  a  teacher  who  had  been  tenderly 
nurtured,  and  whose  mental  strength  seemed  nmiv 
than  ordinary.  She  was  fairly  successful  as  a 
writer,  modest  and  womanly  in  her  demeanor.  I 
went  to  the  place  to  lecture  last  summer,  and  the 
mother,  whose  health  was  utterly  broken  by  her 
grief,  sent  the  young  lady's  aunt  and  her  father  to 
ask  me  to  call  and  try  to  save  their  daughter.     I 


SPREAD   OF  MOIiMOmSM.  297 

went,  and  for  several  hours,  with  most  intense  feel- 
in  "•,  I  talked  with  her,  but  she  seemed  intrenched 
against  every  possible  influence.  After  telling  her 
my  own  history,  and  of  the  pain  and  sorrow  I  had 
seen  polygamy  bring  to  women,  I  asked  her  how 
she  could  leave  her  broken-hearted  parents  who 
loved  her  so  dearly?  She  said  she  should  pray  for 
them,  and  she  believed  that  they,  too,  would  soon 
embrace  the  Mormon  faith.  Later,  when  in  a  room 
alone  with  her  I  said : — 

"  Gertrude,  what  reason  do  you  think  I  have  for 
talking  to  you  as  I  am  doing?  Do  I  not  seem  sin- 
cere  and  truthful?  and  do  you  not  feel  that  what  I 
have  said  comes  from  my  heart?  " 

She  replied,  "Yes.  you  do  seem  sincere;  but  you 
know  how  I  have  been  taught  by  the  Mormons  to 
i  ■  gard  you  They  told  me  you  were  an  ambitious, 
dissatisfied  woman,  only  seeking  notoriety." 

"  Well,"  I  asked,  "  do  you  still  believe  that  ?  Do  I 
look  or  act  like  such  a  woman?  Will  you  not  have 
faith  in  my  sincerity,  at  least  ?  " 

She  placed  her  arms  around  my  neck,  and  replied: 
"  I  will,  Mrs.  Young;  I  am  sure  you  are  a  true  wo- 
man, and  have  spoken  only  for  my  good;  but  if  an 
anerel  from  heaven  should  come  and  tell  me  that 
M< unionism  was  not  true,  I  could  not  believe  him 
until  I  had  gone  there  and  tried  it  for  myself." 

I  said,  "Yours  is  a  hopeless  case;  nothing  but  the 
sorrow  that  it  has  in  store  for  you  will  open  your 
eyes." 

These  instances  show  that  it  is  not  alone  from  the 


298  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

ignorant  and  degraded  that  Mormon  converts  are 
made,  but  that  cultured,  intelligent  people  can  also 
he  deluded.  It  would  seem  that  belief  in  any  false 
doctrine  does  not  necessarily  depend  upon  ignorance, 
but  rather  that  peculiar  organizations  are  easily  fas- 
cinated by  the  idea  of  direct  communication  with 
Heaven.  Their  readiness  to  accept  everything  mar- 
velous makes  them  willing  to  receive  as  a  divine  rev- 
elation and  a  modern  miracle  the  story  of  the  golden 
plates,  and  to  believe  in  the  prophetic  power  of 
Joseph  Smith,  Brigham  Young,  and  John  Taylor. 
However  this  may  be,  Mormon  missionaries  are  at 
work,  and  Mormon  converts  are  being  made  all  over 
the  country,  North,  South,  East,  and  "West. 

And  now,  in  the  face  of  these  indisputable  facts, 
comes  the  question,  How  do  the  American  people 
dare  to  permit  Mormonism  to  flourish  and  increase? 
How  can  they  ignore  or  trifle  with  it  any  longer? 
The  population  of  Utah  does  not  show  how  fast 
Mormonism  is  increasing,  because  there  are  so  many 
settlements  of  Mormons  in  the  surrounding  States 
and  Territories.  Over  3,000  came  from  Europe  in 
1 880,  and  the  Southern  States  contributed  hundreds 
which  were  sent  to  Colorado  and  other  parts  of  the 
country. 

From  a  sad  personal  experience,  I  solemnly  aver 
that  Mormonism  and  polygamy  bring  no  good  to 
man,  woman,  or  child;  but  on  the  contrary,  dark- 
ness, destruction,  and  despair. 

I  appeal  now  to  our  new  President  and  his 
('almiet,  to  our  Senators  and  Congressmen,  to  our 


SPREAD  OF  MORMONISM.  299 

ministers  of  the  Gospel  of  every  denomination,  to 
our  newspapers,  which  are  so  mighty  a  power,  and 
most  strongly  of  all,  to  the  people  of  this  country, 
whose  will  can  accomplish  anything, — I  beseech  you 
all  to  allow  no  opportunity  for  action  to  pass  by  un- 
improved. Permit  no  law  by  which  Mormon  polyg- 
amy may  be  abolished  to  go  unenacted.  Leave  no 
prayer  unspoken,  no  word  unsaid,  that  may  help  to 
destroy  this  foul  and  shameful  crime  against  relig- 
ion, society,  and  free  government. 

Mrs.  Ann  Eliza  Young. 

These  experiences  of  Mrs.  Young  are  supple- 
mented and  confirmed  almost  every  week  in  the 
year  by  events  which  are  happening  all  over  the 
country.  The  Mormon  church  papers  are  contin- 
ually publishing  correspondence  from  their  mission- 
aries, giving  glowing  accounts  of  their  success  in 
proselyting;  and  although  some  of  these  letters  may 
be  written  for  effect  among  the  people  of  Utah, 
yet  results  prove  that  they  contain  a  great  deal  of 
truth. 

During  the  month  of  September,  1881,  a  promi- 
nent United  States  Federal  Official  in  Salt  Lake 
City  received  a  letter  from  a  young  lady  in  Indiana. 
who  thought  he  must  be  a  Mormon  from  the  position 
he  held.  The  writer,  who  from  appearances  was  pos 
sessed  of  some  education  and  culture,  and  who 
said  she  was  a  school-teacher  by  profession,  after 
apologizing  for  addressing  a  stranger,  avowed  that 
she  had  been  completely  captivated  by  what  she  had 


300  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

learned  in  regard  to  Mormonism,  and  had  a  strong 
desire  to  investigate  the  system  still  further. 

She  was  convinced  that  a  greater  knowledge  of 
Mormon  doctrines  would  conduce  both  to  her  physical 
and  spiritual  advantage,  and  desired  to  know  whereto 
obtain  the  proper  books  and  papers.  She  also  wanted 
to  know  how  she  should  proceed  in  order  to  reach 
Salt  Lake  City,  as  she  ardently  wished  to  gather  with 
the  Saints.  The  gentleman  referred  the  letter  to 
some  non-Mormon  ladies,  who  undertook  the  task 
of  trying  to  enlighten  her  and  break  her  infatuation, 
but  with  what  success  their  labors  will  be  crowned 
remains  yet  to  be  seen. 

Another  recent  case  is  that  of  a  young  girl  from 
a  highly  respectable  and  cultured  family  in  Massa- 
chusetts. She  became  infatuated  with  the  teach- 
ings of  a  Mormon  missionary,  and  with  himself; 
and  when  he  wooed  her  for  his  wife,  she  never 
thought  to  ask  him  whether  another  woman  had  a 
previous  right  to  that  name.  Her  family  tried  to 
reason  with  her,  and  when  that  proved  of  no 
avail,  more  stringent  means  were  adopted.  She 
managed,  however,  to  elude  their  vigilance,  and 
escaped  to  Utah  with  the  Mormon  elder,  who,  in 
order  to  satisfy  her,  "married"  her  on  the  way. 
She  had  no  sooner  reached  Salt  Lake  than  she  found 
that  she  was  only  the  third  woman  whom  the 
wretch  had  deluded  in  the  same  way.  She  mot 
some  kind  friends  who  assisted  her  with  means  to 
return  to  Massachusetts,  but  she  never  wrote  after 
she  left  the  city,  and  they  know  not  whether  she 


SPREAD   OF  MORMONISM.  301 

readied  her  home  again.  She  felt  herself  a  ruined 
and  betrayed  woman,  and  the  probability  is,  that 
instead  of  returning,  like  the  prodigal,  to  the  home 
which  her  folly  had  left  desolate,  somewhere  out 
in  the  great  world  wanders  another  woman,  eter- 
nally lost! 

And  now  the  important  question  presents  itself, 
What  is  to  be  the  end?  Is  this  absolute  theocracy 
which  holds  itself  above  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  which  teaches  its  adherents  that  "  all 
governments  founded  by  men  are  illegal,  which 
claims  that  its  founder  was  a  prophet  inspired  by 
God,  and  that  when  he  died  his  mantle  fell  upon  his 
successors  with  all  its  divine  powers," — is  this  institu- 
tion to  be  permitted  to  wax  stronger  every  year, 
and  without  let  or  hindrance,  flaunt  its  treasonable 
presence  in  the  face  of  the  American  nation  ?  Worse 
than  all,  shall  it  be  permitted  to  continually  forge 
the  chains  of  an  ignominious  slavery  on  the  wrists  of 
women,  to  offer  a  perpetual  permission  for  men's 
lusts  in  the  name  of  religion,  and  to  blast  and  de- 
stroy the  honor  and  sacredness  of  home? 

The  people  of  America  will  do  well  to  remember 
"that  once  before  there  was  an  institution  in  this 
country  around  which  there  was  a  shield  of  sympa- 
thy :  its  divine  rights  were  declared  from  a  thousand 
pulpits ;  Congress  was  too  sordid  and  too  cowardly  to 
deal  with  it;  wholesale  merchants  and  great  corpo- 
rations lent  their  influence  to  perpetuate  it,  and  a 
venal  press  rang  with  anathemas  against  any  who 
dared  to  denounce  it.     But  there  came  a  day  at  last 


302 


WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 


when  men  had  to  choose  which  should  live  and  rule, 
that  institution,  or  this  nation.  The  history  of  a\  hat 
followed  is  fresh  in  all  minds;  and  little  as  the 
masses  believe  it  now,  there  will  come  a  time,  if  this 
monster  in  Utah  is  left  to  grow,  when  there  will  be 
another  call  for  volunteers  and  for  money ;  and  as 
before,  tens  of  thousands  of  brave  young  men  will 
go  away,  never  to  return;  as  before,  there  will  be 
an  enormous  debt  incurred;  as  before,  the  country 
will  be  hillocked  with  graves,  and  the  whole  land 
will  be  moistened  by  the  rain  of  women's  tears ! " 


CHAPTER    XX. 

ill  %t$  "fW  dmttj  la  Jto  jl^fmrf  fl  ? 

BY  THE  LATE  REV.  LEONARD  BACON,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.* 

Something  Now. — Thirty  Years'  Compromise. — National  Sover- 
eignty.— People  Unfit  for  Self-Government. — No  State  Rights. 
— The  First  of  Human  Rights. — Jim  Fisk. 

'HERE  arc  indications  that  the  Mormon 
question  is  coining  to  the  front.  It  has 
been  trifled  "with  too  lone-  as  if  it  were  of 
no  urgent  importance.  One  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives after  another  lias  permitted  a 
notorious  criminal,  reeking  with  the  filth  of 
his  so-called  "plural  marriages."  to  sit  as  the  delegate 
from  Utah.  The  presence  of  that  man  in  that  place, 
drawing  his  pay  and  mileage  as  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, has  been  an  insult  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  and  a  defiance   of    their   moral  sense.      But 

-This  unfinished  article  is  the  last  work  of  Dr.  Bacon's  pen. 
It  is  published  just  as  he  left  it.  A  letter  from  his  son,  Rev.  L. 
W.  Bacon,  to  The  Christian  Union,  N.  Y.,  in  which  the  paper  was 
first  printed,  says: — 

"lie  wrote  to  the  end  of  the  line,  wrote  beneath  the  last  line 
the  word  '[over],'  and  laid  his  pen  beside  the  paper,  having  first 
entered  in  his  pocket-diary,  'Utah  article  nearly  finished.' 

'•Thru  lie  spent  the  evening  in  bright,  cheerful  conversation 
with  his  family,  taking  great  delight  in  talking  with  his  youngest 

(303) 


304  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

there  are  indications  that  the  people  will  endure  the 

insult  not  much  longer.  Something  must  be  done, 
not  merely  with  the  delegate  from  the  Territory  of 
Utah,  but  with  the  Territory  itself,  and  with  the 
malignant  enemies  of  the  United  States  and  of 
Christian  civilization  who  have  been  permitted  to 
govern  it.  Every  Representative  in  Congress,  and 
every  Senator,  will  do  well  to  consider  carefully,  not 
how  to  evade  the  question  in  the  hope  that  some- 
thing will  turn  up,  but  how  to  grapple,  at  once  and 
effectively,  with  the  hideous  barbarism  which  is 
already  the  reproach  of  our  country  throughout  the 
civilized  world. 

We  have  had  more  than  enough  of  the  wisdom, 
which,  being  in  high  places  of  responsibility  for  the 
nation,  was  amiably  confident  that  Mormonism  (or 
at  least  its  beastly  co-ordination  of  the  sexes)  would 
die  out  of  itself.  The  men  are  already  old  who  can 
remember  that  marvelous  stroke  of  policy  when 
Millard  Fillmore,  acting  as  President  of  the  Unite. I 
States,  appointed  (with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate)  Brigham  Young  as  Governor  of  Utah. 
Mr.  Fillmore  knew  perfectly  well  at  that  time,  and 
every  Senator  who  advised  and  consented  to  the  ap- 

BOn,  just  returned  from  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  went  to  bed  at 
the  usual  hour.  He  woke  at  six  o'clock  on  Saturday  morning  to 
a  few  minutes  of  consciousness,  and  not  apparently  of  extreme 
distress,  and  then  fell  asleep. 

"  We  all  hope  that  these  earnest  paires  may  lie  the  more  seriously 
heeded  for  being  his  last  words  to  his  fellow-citizens. 

"  Ever  truly  yours,  L.  W.  Bacon." 


WHAT  ARE  YOV  GOING  TO  DO  ABOUT  IT?    305 

pointment  knew,  and  every  citizen  of  ordinary  in- 
telligence knew,  that  Brigham  Young  was  nothing 
better  than  a  consummate  scoundrel.  But  Mr.  Fill- 
more, and  others  like  him,  in  that  day  when  com- 
promise with  wrong  was  thought  to  be  statesman- 
ship, had  a  pleasing  opinion  that  if  the  lying  and 
lecherous  prophet  of  the  Mormons  would  consent  to 
become  an  office-holder  under  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  all  would  go  smoothly,  civilization 
would  somehow  displace  polygamy,  ami  instead  of 
the  prophet's  cruel  despotism  there  would  be  liberty. 
More  than  thirty  years  have  passed,  and  Mormon- 
ism  is  to-day  stronger,  more  defiant,  and  more  dan- 
gerous to  the  nation,  than  ever. 

What  can  we  do?  A  feeling  is  abroad  that  the 
time  has  come  for  a  more  vigorous  policy  in  regard 
to  this  great  moral  and  political  danger.  It  was 
hoped  that  the  trans-continental  railroad  would  do 
great  things  by  bringing  travel  and  trade  to  that 
great  metropolis  of  despotism  by  the  sea  of  Sodom. 
It  has  done  great  things.  It  has  added  millions 
to  the  wealth  of  the  Mormon  chiefs ;  it  has  facilitated 
the  going  forth  of  emissaries  from  Salt  Lake  City  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  the  coming  hi  of  wretched 
dupes  by  thousands  to  swell  the  Mormon  population 
and  the  Mormon  vote,  not  only  in  Utah  but  in  the 
neighboring  Territories.  There  was  hope  that  acts 
of  Congress  against  polygamy,  and  prosecutions 
before  United  States  Judges  for  marrying  more 
wives  than  one,  would  break  up  the  harems  of  the 
hierarchy,  and  open  the  way  for  Christian  civiliza- 

20 


30G  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

tion  to  displace  the  bastard  Mohammedanism  in- 
vented l>y  Joseph  Smith.  But  Mormonism  laughs 
at  such  expedients,  like  leviathan  at  the  shaking 
of  a  spear. 

Let  us  understand  the  situation.  The  Territories, 
whether  before  or  after  being  inhabited,  are  the 
property  of  the  States,  and  under  their  united 
sovereignty.  When  Brigham  Young,  with  his  ac- 
complices and  the  horde  of  their  dupes,  marched 
into  the  Territory  now  known  as  Utah,  neither  he 
nor  they  acquired  any  rights  there  save  such  as 
were  given  them  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 
The  Constitution  gives  to  Congress  "power  to  dis- 
pose of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations 
concerning  the  territory  or  other  property  belonging 
to  the  United  States."  for  the  very  purpose  of 
enabling  the  States,  as  represented  in  Congress,  to  de- 
termine in  what  method  civil  society  should  be 
organized,  and  what  sort  of  new  States  should  be 
founded  on  the  soil  which  is  their  common  property. 
In  a  State  of  this  Union  there  is  a  divided  sover- 
eignty. Each  State,  by  consenting  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, has  ceded  a  portion  of  its  sovereignty,  carefully 
guarding  the  remainder.  But  in  a  Territory  the 
sovereignty  is  undivided ;  the  inhabitants,  till  they 
shall  have  been  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State, 
are  simply  under  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States.  In  that  sovereignty  they  have  no  participa- 
tion. They  must  shape  their  social  order  and 
morality,  their  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  then- 
entire   civilization,  in   such   a  fashion   as  shall  be 


WHAT  ARE  YOU  GOING  TO  DO  ABOUT  IT?    307 

acceptable,  not  to  the  King  of  Ashantee,  nor  to  the 
Sultan  at  Constantinople,  but  to  the  sovereign  people 
of  the  United  States. 

The  government,  then,  of  Utah  is  under  the  con- 
trol of  Congress  so  long  as  Utah  is  a  Territory. 
No  rule  or  regulation  can  have  any  legitimate  force 
there,  otherwise  than  as  it  derives  force  from  an  act 
of  Congress.  Whatever  regulations  have  been  made 
for  the  temporary  government  of  the  Territory, 
may  be  rescinded  by  Congress  whenever  experiment 
has  proved  that  they  are  inefficient,  and  that  they 
give  no  adequate  promise  of  raising  up  a  civilized 
State,  fit  for  admission  to  the  Union. 

For  thirty  years  we  have  been  making  the  exper- 
iment of  a  Territorial  government  in  Utah,  and  it 
is  manifestly  unsuccessful.  It  has  not  answered  the 
purpose  for  which  Territorial  governments  are  es- 
tablished. "We,  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
have  never  yet  acknowledged  that  the  number  of 
inhabitants  is  the  only  thing  to  be  considered  in  re- 
ceiving a  new  State  into  our  Union.  The  question 
is  not  merely,  How  many  are  they?  but  also,  Of 
what  sort  are  they?  Are  they  a  civilized  people?  If 
they  are  in  some  sense  civilized,  then  in  what  sense? 
Are  they  as  a  people  capable  of  self-government?  If 
they  become  a  State,  will  that  State  be  a  fit  partner 
in  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  ?  Will  it  be  a 
disgrace  and  a  danger  to  the  Union  ?  The  population 
of  Utah  is  at  this  moment  numerous  enough  for  a 
State;  but  notoriously  that  population,  taken  as  a 
whole,  is  unfit  to  be  invested  with  the  dignity  and 


308  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

power  of  a  State  in  this  Union ;  and  there  is  no  rea- 
sonable hope  of  its  Itecoming  fit  under  the  present 
Territorial  organization. 

Already  a  plan  has  been  proposed  for  a  different 
method  of  Territorial  govern  incut  in  Utah.  With- 
out discussing  the  details  of  the  plan,  I  may  say  it 
looks  in  the  right  direction,  inasmuch  as  it  proposes 
that  Utah  shall  be  governed  not  by  the  Mormon  hie- 
rarchy but  by  the  United  States;  and  that  instead 
of  a  Territorial  legislature  and  Territorial  courts, 
(whether  called  Probate  courts,  or  by  any  other 
name),  there  shall  be  in  that  Territory  such  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  national  sovereignty  as  will  cause 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  to  be  respected  and 
obeyed.  The  emergency  may  come  in  which  it  will 
be  necessary  to  proclaim  martial  law  in  the  strong- 
holds of  Mormon  power.  In  one  way  or  another, 
the  sovereign  people  of  the  United  States,  acting 
through  their  Government  at  Washington,  can  guard 
their  own  Territory  of  Utah  against  an  organized 
and  barbaric  despotism,  and  can  make  effectual  ar- 
rangements there  for  the  establishment  of  a  civil- 
ized and  self-governing  State,  fit  to  become  a  partner 
in  their  united  sovereignty.  Will  they  not  do  it? 
Not  to  do  it  would  be  a  base  surrender  of  the  trust 
which  they  hold  for  their  posterity  and  for  the 
world. 

Doubtless  there  will  be  talk  about  the  rights  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Utah.  Let  their  rights  be  re- 
spected and  guarded ;  but  let  it  be  remembered  that 
those  inhabitants  are   not  a   State.     They  are  not 


WHAT  ARE  YOU  (WING  TO  DO  ABOUT  IT?    309 

even  a  body  politic  save  by  force  of  an  act  of  Con- 
gress,  which  Congress  can  repeal  at  any  time  when 
such  repeal  shall  be  deemed  expedient.  They  are 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  as  many  of  them  as  are 
not  like  the  [late?]  delegate  Cannon,  foreigners  not 
naturalized.  They  are  citizens  in  the  same  sense  in 
which  minors  and  inhabitants  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  (to  say  nothing  about  women)  are  citizens; 
but  their  citizenship  gives  them  no  political  power. 
As  individual  citizens  they  are  entitled  to  protection 
by  the  National  Government  within  the  limits  of  its 
jurisdiction,  and  any  of  them  who  pass  out  of  a  Ter- 
ritory into  a  State  are  entitled  to  the  protection  of 
the  State.  As  individuals  they  are  entitled  to  the  sai  ne 
protection  with  other  American  citizens  in  foreign 
countries.  Every  individual  of  them  has  a  right  to 
personal  liberty,  to  the  possession  and  lawful  use  of 
the  products  of  his  lawful  industry,  to  whatever 
property,  whether  real  or  personal,  he  has  acquired 
in  any  lawful  way.  But  let  it  be  remembered  that 
there  is  nothing  of  State  rights  in  the  case — no  sov- 
ereignty or  quasi  sovereignty  with  which  the 
United  States  is  to  negotiate  or  make  some  com- 
promise. The  whole  matter  is  that  in  a  certain 
Territory  belonging  to  the  United  States  there  are 
(or  were  in  1880)  143,000  human  beings  to  be  gov- 
erned by  such  rules  and  regulations  as  shall  be 
deemed  just  and  expedient  by  the  wisdom  of  the 
United  States  in  Congress. 

As  for  the  rights  of  settlers  in  Utah,  it  is  worth 
remembering  that  the  first  of  human  rights — first  in 


310  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

order  of  time,  and  first  in  importance — is  not  the 
right  to  govern  and  vote,  but  the  right  to  be  gov- 
erned and  to  be  well  governed, — the  right,  in  other 
words,  to  be  protected,  to  be  restrained,  to  be  in- 
cited to  well-doing,  by  the  beneficent  influences  of 
well-ordered  civil  society.  Civil  society  implies  gov- 
ernment; and  well-ordered  society  is  good  govern- 
ment. The  right  to  be  well-governed  includes  and 
carries  with  it  every  other  civil  light.  Of  that 
first  and  comprehensive  right,  the  inhabitants  of 
Utah,  under  existing  arrangements,  are  deprived. 
It  is  the  duty  of  Congress  to  make  other  arrange- 
ments, such  as  will  put  them  under  the  beneficent 
influences  of  good  government,  protecting  thou 
against  violence  and  fraud,  restraining  them  from 
wickedness,  and  inciting  them  to  become  good  cit- 
izens. 

The  failure,  hitherto,  of  all  attempts  to  suppress 
or  punish  the  barbarism  which  Mormons  call ''plu- 
ral marriage,"  is  more  remarkable  than  wonderful. 

For  the  sake  of  showing  that  the  fact,  however 
remarkable,  is  not  wonderful,  let  us  suppose  a  case 
elsewhere  than  in  Utah.  "The  memory  of  the 
wicked  shall  rot ;"  and  there  is  no  contradiction  of 
the  Scripture  when  1  suggest  that  the  memory  of  a 
certain  wicked  man  who  was  commonly  called  Jim 
Fisk  remains  in  New  York  to  this  day.  I  am  not 
aware  that  he  was  ever  married,  but  all  who  re- 
member the  occasion  and  means  of  his  death  re- 
member that  he  had  a  concubine  who  lived  in  great 
splendor  at  his  expense,  and  whom  it  was  his  pride 


WHAT  ARE   YOU  GOING  TO  DO  ABOUT  IT?    311 

to  exhibit  at  Central  Park  and  elsewhere.  That 
was  a  bold  defiance  of  decent  people;  but  will  any- 
body please  to  tel]  me  that  it  was  an  offense  against 
the  laws  of  New  York?  Suppose,  now,  that  not 
being  satisfied  with  one  harlot,  he  had  been  rich 
enough  and  shameless  enough  to  keep  thirty,  having 
them  all  to  himself.  Suppose  him  to  have  bought 
a  block  of  houses  fronting  on  Fifth  Avenue,  and  to 
have  established  one  of  his  harlots  in  each  house,  as- 
suring it  to  her  as  her  home  and  the  home  of  her 
children.  That  would  have  been  just  about  what 
Brigham  Young  did  in  Salt  Lake  City.  In  such  a 
ease,  what  would  the  State  of  New  York  do?  Mr. 
Fisk,  if  anybody  should  remonstrate,  might  say,  as 
one  Mr.  Tweed  said  on  a  somewhat  similar  occasion, 
"  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  \  " 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


BY  HON.  P.  T.  VAN    ZILE,  TJ.  S.  DIST.  ATT'Y  FOR  UTAH* 

Philadelphia  Convention,  1857. — No  Easy  Question. — Mormons 
Completely  Organized. — Tithes. — Polygamy  not  Publicly  An- 
nounced at  First. — Wonderful  Power  of  Forgetting. — You 
Cannot  Protect  Me. — Proportion  of  Polygamists. — "  Brooming  a 
Bishop." — Polygamists  Holding  the  Offices. — Spiritual  Exalta- 
tion.— Mormon  Jurors. — Congress  Guilty. — Evil  Results  of 
Polygamy. — Laws  Suggested. 

NATION  seldom  moves  deliberately  to 
correct  an  evil  upon  its  first  appearance. 
But  when  that  evil  becuines  strong  and 
defiant,  when  "  right  is  crushed  to  earth  " 
and  it  seems  for  a  time  that  evil  will  pre- 
vail in  spite  of  the  laws  of  God  or  man, 
when  thousands  of  bleeding  hearts,  with 
their  last  gasp  for  life,  appeal  to  a  strong  nation, 
when  streams  of  innocent  blood  have  been  spilt  upon 
the  ground,  and  cry  to  Heaven  for  vengeance,  then 
governments  are  aroused,  and  often  adopt  stern 
measures  to  correct  the  evil. 

*Read  before  the  Michigan  State  Association  of  Congregational 
churches,  at  its  meeting  in  Detroit,  May  21,  1SS0. 
(312) 


Hon.  P.  T.   VAN   ZILE, 

U.  S.  District  Attorney  for  Utah. 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  313 

On  the  17th  Jay  of  June,  1856,  at  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  that  grand  old  city  where  the  nation 
had  its  birth,  a  convention  of  men  a&sembled, — men 
who  had  been  moved  by  appeals  for  liberty  and  a 
better  civilization. 

The  air  was  full  of  rumors  concerning  the  oppres- 
sion of  four  millions  of  human  beings  almost  within 
the  shadows  of  the  National  Capitol,  while  mingled 
with  the  wail  which  came  up  from  the  sunny  South, 
asking  for  freedom  from  the  bonds  of  American 
slavery,  came  a  petition  over  the  snow-capped  Rocky 
Mountains,  from  the  wilds  of  the  frontier,  from  a 
land  two  thousand  miles  away,  asking  for  freedom 
from  an  oppression  which  ruins  soul  and  body,  and 
makes  life  worse  than  a  blank. 

From  this  convention  of  noble  men  came  the  first 
public  expression  upon  the  subject  with  which  we 
have  to  deal.  So  to-day  let  these  men  speak  again, 
and  would  that  they  might  arouse  and  stimulate 
to  action, — earnest,  determined  action, — the  people 
of  these  United  States  and  its  Congress.  Hear 
them ! 

licsolved,  That  the  Constitution  confers  upon  Con- 
gress sovereign  power  over  the  Territories  of  the 
United  States  for  their  government,  and  that  in  the 
exercise  of  this  power  it  is  both  the  right  and  the 
duty  of  Congress  to  prohibit  in  the  Territories  those 
twin  relics  of  barbarism, — Polygamy  and  Slavery. 
Since  that  declaration,  the  nation  has  arisen  in  its 
majestic  strength,  and  carved  the  one  ulcer,  slavery, 
from  the  body  politic,  but  the  other  "twin  relic," 


314  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

as  foul  and  abominable  an  ulcer  as  was  slavery,  still 

tills  our  nostrils  with  its  stench,  still  disgraces  that 
which  we  declare  is  the  greatest  and  best  of  govern- 
ments, still  spreads  and  thrives;  and  raising  its  "hydra 

head,"  bids  defiance  to  people,  to  government,  and  to 
law.  The  extent  and  magnitude  of  this  evil  is  not 
understood  by  the  majority  of  the  citizens  of  tin- 
United  States.  It  is  generally  looked  upon  as  one 
of  the  tenets  of  a  church  or  organization  of  fanatics 
who  occupy  an  out-of-the-way  country,  and  by 
many  a  wiseacre  it  is  confidently  asserted  that  the 
evil  can  at  any  time  be  easily  and  readily  set  aside 
when  the  United  States  desires  to  do  so.  This  is  by 
no  means  true.  By  reason  of  inattention  and  care- 
less indifference,  this  monstrosity  has  grown  and 
thrived  until  it  has  become  bold  and  defiant,  and 
now,  when  the  Government  begins  to  wake  up  to 
the  fact,  and  look  toward  eradicating  it,  they  find  it 
an  ugly  question  to  solve. 

Stop  and  consider,  you  who  would  have  the  Gov- 
ernment make  laws  that  will  be  effectual  in  suppress- 
ing polygamy.  What  laws  will  you  have  enacted? 
ts  your  answer,  A  law  forbidding  the  practice  under 
heavy  penalties?  That  law  has  been  enacted, 
and  for  nearly  eighteen  years  has  been  upon  Our 
statute  books.  We  can  no  longer  close  our  eyes  and 
cry  out,  This  is  an  easy  question  to  soke.  We  must 
awake  and  realize  the  fact  that  to-day  this  question 
has  assumed  large  proportions,  and  that  its  solution 
will  puzzle,  and  is  puzzling,  the  brains  of  some  of 
our  wisest  statesmen. 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  315 

Let  us  notice  some  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
enforcing  the  law  of  Congress,  prohibiting  polygamy 
in  the  Territories.  If  you  look  at  your  maps,  you 
will  discover,  lying  in  what  is  called  the  great  basin, 
the  Territory  of  Utah,  composed  of  mountains  and 
valleys,  and  containing  84,276  square  miles, — a 
country  about  one  and  two-thirds  times  as  large  as 
the  State  of  Michigan;  and  by  a  little  crowding,  it 
could  embrace  in  its  polygamous  folds  the  States  of 
Michigan  ami  Indiana,  while  Massachusetts  or  Ver- 
mont could  lie  down  in  one  of  its  valleys  without 
being  the  least  inconvenienced  for  room. 

If  you  notice  the  physical  geography  of  this  coun- 
try, you  will  observe  that  it  has  ranges  of  mountains 
running  north  and  south,  the  Wasatch  and  the 
Oquirrh,  and  that  its  agricultural  lands  are  scattered 
here  and  there  throughout  the  Territory,  wherever  a 
valley  susceptible  of  cultivation  can  be  found.  The 
consequence  is,  the  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people 
who  believe,  or  pretend  to  believe,  that  this  monstrous 
doctrine  is  a  revelation  from  God,  are  collected  in 
small  settlements  here  and  there  in  these  several  val- 
leys, while  the  people  opposed, — the  Gentiles,  as  we 
are  called, — consisting  of  perhaps  ten  thousand  or 
less,  are  centered  in  the  mining  camps  and  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  thus  those  who  advocate  the  doctrine 
are  left  by  themselves  in  most  cases,  with  no  one  to 
report  their  violations  of  law. 

This  vast  Territory  is  divided  into  three  judicial 
districts,  and  for  each  of  these  districts  the  United 
States  appoints  a  District  Judge.     In  these  District 


316  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

Courts  this  crime  must  be  prosecuted.  This  means 
bringing  witnesses  and  jurors  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  out  of  a  country  where  there  are  no  railroads. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  most  of  the  people  in  the 
Territory  are  opposed  to  this  law,  and  will  do  every- 
thing and  anything  they  can  do  to  defeat  its  execu- 
tion. Over  this  large  area  of  country  this  "  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints,"  as  they  call 
themselves,  with  polygamy  as  one  of  its  corner- 
stones, has  complete  sway,  and  is  continually  reach- 
ing out  into  adjoining  Territories,  and  attempting  to 
fasten  its  poisonous  fangs  upon  them  and  bring  them 
under  its  control. 

Never  was  a  body  of  men  so  completely  organized 
as  is  this  Mormon  people.  It  is  so  arranged  that  the 
president  of  the  church  can  know  the  sentiment  of 
every  man  in  the  Territory,  Mormon  or  Gentile. 

The  building  up  and  strengthening  of  Mormonism 
is  the  chief  object  of  every  Mormon;  and  conse- 
quently, he  opposes  and  cripples  every  effort  made 
by  the  Government  or  its  officers  to  punish  polyg- 
amy. So  every  move  that  is  made  by  a  Government 
official,  and  almost  every  word  spoken,  is  known  by 
the  leading  Mormons,  and  arrangements  are  made 
accordingly.  All  the  telegraph  lines  in  the  Terri- 
tory, except  the  through  lines  from  east  to  west,  are 
controlled  and  owned  by  the  Mormons,  and  inn  into 
the  office  of  President  Taylor.  He  can  know  every 
dispatch  that  is  sent,  and  by  whom.  If  a  United 
States  officer  telegraphs  for  the  arrest  of  a  man,  or 
for  a  witness,  John  Taylor  knows  it;  and  if  he  has 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  317 

no  objections,  the  officer  will  get  his  prisoner  or  wit- 
ness; if  Taylor  objects,  he  will  not.  The  Mormon 
church  is  the  largest  business  concern  in  the  Terri- 
tory. It  owns  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property. 
It  carries  on  stock  raising-,  and  has  large  herds  of 
cattle  and  sheep  scattered  all  over  the  Territory. 
These  herds  are  called  the  church  herds,  and  are 
branded  with  a  cross.  They  have  large  co-operative 
mercantile  institutions  in  nearly  all  of  the  settlements, 
with  a  mammoth  institution  to  supply  them,  situated 
in  Salt  Lake  City.  You  can  always  know  these 
stores  by  the  sign  over  the  door,  which  reads:  "  Holi- 
ness to  the  Lord.  Zion's  Co-operative  Mercantile 
Institution,"  and  in  the  midst  is  a  representation  of 
the  all-seeing  Eye.  All  their  goods  are  marked  with 
the  letters  Z.  C.  M.  I. ;  even  to  the  horse-block  in 
front. 

The  church  collects  from  its  members  a  larere 
amount  each  year  for  tithing.  Taylor  reported  one 
year  one  hundred  and  forty-five  thousand  dollars, 
and  how  much  more  was  collected  I  do  not  know. 
Brigham  Young,  although  often  requested,  never 
made  but  one  report  about  the  tithing,  and  that  was 
in  the  tabernacle  and  consisted  in  this:   "It  is  none 

of  your business  how  much  tithing  has  been 

collected." 

The  marriage  ceremony  is  performed  in  secret, 
and  the  most  terrible  oaths  are  taken  never  to 
reveal  what  transpires.  To  these  oaths  are  attached 
the  most  horrible  penalties,  some  of  which  are  that 
the  participants  will  have  their  tongues  torn  out  by 


318  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

the  roots,  their  throats  cut  from  ear  to  ear,  their 
bodies  sawn  asunder,  and  their  knee-joints  broken, 
and  the  like,  should  they  ever  reveal  what  they  si  •<  ■ 
or  hear  while  in  the  Endowment  House.  Think  of 
putting  a  witness  on  the  stand  to  testify,  who  feels 
himself  bound  by  these  oaths !  And  these  penalties 
are  not  meaningless,  as  many  a  poor  victim  would 
testify  if  his  voice  could  be  heard.  Many  men  and 
women  have  lost  their  lives  for  no  other  offense  than 
revealing  what  has  transpired  in  this  sink-hole  of 
iniquity, — the  Mormon  Endowment  House.  I  men- 
tion these  facts  that  you  may  understand  some  of 
the  difficulties  we  have  to  .meet  when  we  undertake 
to  enforce  the  law  of  Congress  forbidding  polygamy 
in  the  Territories. 

Polygamy  is  antagonistic  to  decency,  and  would 
not  be  tolerated  by  a  civilized  community.  The 
Mormons  understand  this  as  well  as  you,  and  they 
would  never  undertake  to  practice  it  openly  and  in 
defiance  of  law  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  or  any 
other  of  the  States.  But  Utah  seemed  peculiarly  fa- 
vorable to  its  growth,  and  until  recently  it  has  grown 
and  flourished  without  molestation.  The  pretended 
revelation  from  God  upon  which  this  doctrine  of  po- 
lygamy is  founded,  is  claimed  by  the  Mormons  to  have 
been  received  in  1843,  by  their  prophet  Joseph  Smith ; 
and  although  a  fair  construction  of  the  lanjniajre  of 
that  revelation  would  seem  to  make  it  not  onlv  the 
privilege  but  the  duty  of  every  true  Latter-day  Saint 
to  practice  polygamy,  nothing  of  the  kind  was  done 
until  they  passed  the  boundaries  of  civilization  and 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  319 

settled  in  the  valleys  of  this  Territory,  except  in  a 
few  cases,  and  that  very  secretly.  And  even  after 
their  settlement  in  Utah,  some  of  their  leaders, — 
among  them  John  Taylor, — denied  that  it  was  a 
tenet  of  their  church. 

When,  however,  they  became  well  established,  and 
over  a  thousand  miles  intervened  between  them  and 
the  Missouri  River,  with  the  great  Rocky  Mountain 
range,  which  in  those  days  was  almost  impassable 
1  ii  t ween  them  and  the  outside  world  on  the  east, 
and  the  Sierra  Nevadas  on  the  west;  when  they 
found  the  land  they  had  chosen  surrounded  by  snow- 
capped mountains, — a  perfect  prison-house,  from 
which  no  man,  woman,  or  child  could  escape, — then 
it  was  that  in  the  Mormon  Tabernacle  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  nine  years  after  their  pretended  prophet  claimed 
that  God  spoke  to  him  and  revealed  his  will  concern- 
ing this  people  and  polygamy,  this  infamous  doctrine 
was  publicly  announced  by  Brigham  Young.  But 
there  were  those  even  at  that  early  day  who  would 
not  and  did  not  receive  this  doctrine,  and  who  be- 
lieved it  came  rather  from  the  devil  than  from  God. 
And  to-day,  in  the  city  of  Salt  Lake,  there  lives  a 
respected  old  lady  who  has  stemmed  the  tide  of 
Mormon  opposition  for  over  thirty  years;  and 
although  she  saw  the  husband  of  her  youth  leave 
her  and  take  to  his  embrace  other  women  whom  he 
called  wives,  and  although  she  became  to  his  affec- 
tions an  outcast,  still  that  grand  woman  has  been 
sustained  in  all  these  tribulations,  and  has,  in  the 
midst  of   all,  succeeded  in  raising   up  her  family, 


320  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

which  was  large,  and,  thank  God,  there  is  not  one  of 
them  that  docs  not  despise  Mormonism.  That  wo- 
man is  no  loss  a  personage  than  the  first  and  only 
legal  wife  of  Orson  Pratt,  one  of  the  chief  apostles  of 
the  Mormon  church. 

But  the  Mormon  leaders  of  those  early  days  made 
excuses  to  their  followers  for  not  publicly  announ- 
cing this  revelation.  Among  others,  the  following 
were  given:  That  influenced  by  certain  notions  of 
duty,  even  good  men  may  try  to  steal  a  march  upon 
their  fellows,  for  the  purpose  of  doing  them  a  ser- 
vice; that  it  was  determined  in  those  days  that  the 
world  has  no  business  to  know  everything  the  Lord 
has  revealed,  and  that  evasiveness  on  the  subject  of 
marriage  was  an  obligation  for  the  protection  of  the 
church, — an  aid  to  the  Lord  in  the  establishment  of 
that  institution  until  it  became  strong  enough  to 
take  care  of  itself ;  that  great  truths  fully  offered  to 
the  world  would  be  casting  pearls  before  swine; 
and  a  dozen  other  reasons. 

One  thing  is  certain ;  from  that  day  to  this,  falsify- 
ing among  the  leaders  has  been  cultivated  as  a  fine 
art.  They  study  the  art  of  forgetting  what  they 
have  seen  and  heard,  and  so  it  often  happens  that  a 
Mormon,  perhaps  one  of  the  everlasting  priesthood, 
as  they  call  them,  goes  upon  the  witness  stand, 
and  testifies  that  he  cannot  remember  having  per- 
formed a  marriage  ceremony  that  took  place  within 
a  week  past.  He  will  not  swear  that  he  did  not, 
but  he  has  no  recollection  on  the  subject.  They  all 
have  wonderful  powers  of  forgetting — I  have  never 


MOBJdON  TaBEB-YACIS. 


Mormon  Temple  (is  codhse  op  ebection). 
TEMPLE   BLOCK. 


EAST  TEMPLE  STREET,  SALT  LAKE  CITY. 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  321 

found  one  who  had  a  retentive  memory  when  a 
polygamy  ease  was  on  trial. 

With  this  doctrine  of  polygamy,  a  fundamental 
principle  of  Mormonism  in  Utah,  there  grew  up  and 
became  well  established,  a  Theocratic  Government 
with  the  president  of  the  Mormon  church  at  its  head; 
and  it  exists  to-day.  No  despot  ever  had  more 
absolute;  control  over  his  subjects  than  Brigham 
Young,  nor  more  than  John  Taylor  has  to-day 
over  the  members  of  the  Mormon  church. 

Their  victim  once  in  polygamy,  they  have 
him  chained  and  manacled, — there  is  no  retreat,  no 
escape.  He  at  once  shuns  the  Gentiles,  for  fear  of 
being  exposed,  and  like  a  cringing  cur,  obeys  the 
"  Mormon  priesthood  "  for  fear  they  will  withdraw 
their  protection,  or  as  they  term  it,  "  turn  him  over 
to  the  buffetings  of  Satan." 

The  first  lesson  learned  by  a  Mormon  is  to  obey 
counsel,  right  or  wrong,  and  ask  no  questions.  What- 
ever he  is  told  to  do  must  be  done :  if  it  is  a  good 
deed,  he  should  be  thankful;  if  it  is  bad,  or  even 
criminal,  he  must  not  hesitate,  but  do  as  the  "  Ser- 
vants of  the  Lord  (?)  have  directed,  and  let  the 
consequences  take  care  of  themselves." 

The  result  of  this  is  that  to-day  many  and  many 
a  man  is  bound  to  the  Mormon  church  and  its 
institutions  by  no  other  bond  than  a  consciousness 
that  the  "  priesthood  "  know  of  too  many  instances 
where  he  obeyed  counsel,  and  in  obeying  committed 
some  dreadful  deed.  He  has  heard,  may  be,  for 
these  many  years  the  blood  of   his  victim   crying 

21 


322  WOMEN   OF  MORMON  ISM. 

from  the  ground,  and  has  seen  before  him  the  last 
look  mingled  with  the  agony  of  death;   and  with 

Uiis  conies  the  consciousness  that  all  is  known  by 
this  Mormon  priesthood,  and  he  dares  not  break 
loose. 

Some  have  come  out  and  confessed,  upon  being 
promised  immunity,  but  they  are  comparatively  few. 
Less  than  a  year  ago,  I  witnessed  the  struggle  of 
one  who  had  "obeyed  counsel  "  to  the  fullest  extent. 
I  promised  to  protect  him  if  he  would  confess  to  me, 
and  give  him  the  word  of  the  Attorney  General  of 
the  United  States  if  necessary.  He  listened  to  me, 
waited,  seemed  to  consider  the  proposition  favorably ; 
but  finally  with  a  sigh  he  said,  "  No,  it  will  not  do, 
you  cannot  protect  me ;  "  and  with  this  he  left  my 
office. 

Polygamy  is  in  every  sense  of  the  word  an  ulcer 
on  the  body  politic.  It  does  not  belong  in  America, 
and  should  not  be  tolerated  in  America;  and  if  there 
is  no  other  way,  we  should  apply  the  knife  and 
carve  it  out. 

These  people  delight  in  calling  themselves  "a 
peculiar  people,"  and  they  are  indeed  peculiar.  They 
hav  n't  a  single  sentiment  of  Republicanism  in  their 
souls. 

They  are  mostly  foreigners,  and  as  I  have  heard 
them  often  express  it,  they  came  to  this  country  be- 
cause it  is  a  free  country.  Freedom,  to  them,  means 
license.  Under  such  circumstances,  do  you  wonder 
that  there  are  obstacles  in  the  way  of  enforcing  the 
law? 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  323 

But  not  all  of  those  practice  polygamy  who  be- 
long to  the  Mormon  church,  and  claim  to  believe  in 
the  so-called  revelation  from  God,  received  by  the 
prophet,  Joseph  Smith.  Just  what  proportion  do,  it 
is  impossible  for  me  or  any  other  outsider  to  say.  It 
may  be,  and  undoubtedly  is,  known  by  those  in  au- 
thority; but  no  outsider  is  permitted  to  examine  or 
even  cast  his  ungodly  eyes  on  one  of  their  records, 
and  especially  the  record  of  marriages.  Nor  is  any 
Latter-day  Saint  permitted  to  disclose  the  fact,  if  lie 
knows,  and  so  it  is  variously  estimated  from  one- 
tenth  to  one-seventh.  There  is,  in  the  Mormon  En- 
dowment House,  a  record  of  marriages.  The  time 
of  the  court  has  been  occupied  for  hours  and  days, 
trying  to  find  the  man  who  could,  or  rather  would, 
produce  that  book.  I  have  found  witnesses  who 
would  swear  they  had  seen  it;  but  none  of  them 
would  testify  to  its  whereabouts,  or  who  was  the 
custodian.  The  art  of  forgetting  was  always 
invoked,  and  was  generally  adequate  to  the  task. 
Now  does  n't  it  seem  strange  that  the  president  of  the 
church  himself  could  not  tell  where  that  record  was? 
I  have  had  him  on  the  witness  stand  on  two  different 
occasions,  and  on  each  occasion  he  swore — this  man 
of  God  (?) — that  he  could  not  tell  where  that  record 
was,  and  that  he  had  no  idea  where  it  could  be 
found.  Oh  what  blasphemy,  for  such  men  to  claim 
that  they  are  the  prophets  and  servants  of  the  most 
high  God! 

But  you  at  once  ask,  If  polygamy  is  believed  to 
be  a  law  of  God,  especially  to  this  people,  why  do 


324  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

they  not  all  practice  it?  There  is  one  very  good  reason: 
there  are  not  women  enough.  Several  of  the  leaders 
have  appropriate  I  from  six  to  a  dozen,  and  have 
thus  prevented  others  from  living  up  to  their  privi- 
leges, as  they  call  it. 

This  is  not  the  only  reason.  It  is  not  every  man 
who  feels  able  to  take  upon  himself  the  burden  of  so 
large  a  family. 

This  is  by  no  means  considered  a  good  reason  by 
all;  for  a  great  many,  if  not  the  majority  of  the 
polygamists,  take  plural  wives  for  the  support  it 
gives  them, — the  women  supporting  the  husband 
and  children  both,  and  all  growing  up  more  like  ani- 
mals than  human  beings. 

Another  reason  is,  there  are  now  a  good  many 
wives  among  the  Mormons  in  Utah,  who  have  hide- 
pendence  enough  to  stand  up  for  rjght  and  decency, 
and  give  their  husbands  to  understand  that  if  they 
undertake  to  go  into  polygamy,  the  United  States 
officers  will  be  informed,  and  they  will  be  prose- 
cuted. 

Some  women  go  so  far  as  to  settle  matters  them- 
selves; as,  for  example,  the  following,  clipped  from 
our  morning  paper,  will  testify: — 

"The  other  day  a  little  flurry  was  created  on  one 
of  our  principal  streets  by  the  sight  of  a  dignified 
and  portly  individual,  no  less  a,  personage,  in  fact, 
than  one  of  the  bishops  of  J.  0.  of  L.  D.  S.,  rushing 
along  the  sidewalk  in  breathless  haste,  closely  fol- 
lowed by  an  indignant  woman  armed  with  a  broom. 
Twice  or  thrice  in  the  course  of  the  pursuit,  the  ll\  - 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  325 

ing  bishop  received  a  well-directed  blow  from  this 
weapon,  which  had  the  effect  of  causing  him  to  break 
into  a  mad  gallop,  keeping  it  up  until  he  disappeared 
around  the  nearest  corner.  An  inquiry  as  to  the 
meaning  of  this  unusual  spectacle  developed  the  fol- 
lowing facts: — 

"A  o-ood  Saint,  Avhom  we  will  call  brother  Jones 
because  that  isn't  Ins  name,  has  resided  in  Salt  Lake 
City  many  years,  and  accumulated  considerable 
property;  but  he  has  lived  beneath  his  religious 
privileges,  and  contented  himself  with  one  wife.  On 
the  day  referred  to,  the  bishop,  feeling  called  upon  to 
admonish  him  with  regard  to  his  neglect  of  the  glori- 
ous privileges  of  Latter-day  dispensation,  called  at 
his  house  and  reproved  him  in  the  presence  of  his 
wife,  telling  him  that  his  chances  of  exaltation 
would  be  slim  indeed  if  he  did  not  set  about  looking 
up  another  spouse  at  once. 

"  Sister  Jones  only  waited  to  hear  him  finish  the 
first  sentence  of  the  latter  portion  of  his  admonition, 
when,  seizing  the  broom,  she  exclaimed: — 

"'Get  out  of  this,  you  villain;  I'll  teach  you  to 
come  into  an  honest  woman's  house  and  advise  her 
husband  to  take  another  wife.  Take  that,  and  that ' 
— laying  the  broom-handle  vigorously  about  his 
head  and  shoulders.  The  wretched  bishop  grabbed 
his  hat  and  made  for  the  door;  but  before  he  could 
reach  it,  the  blows  fell  thick  and  fast  on  his  defense- 
less head.  Once  outside,  he  thought  himself  safe,  but 
he  soon  discovered  his  mistake.  Nemesis  was  be- 
hind him  in  the  shape  of  that  broom,  and  his  flight 


326  WOMEN    OF   MORMONISM. 

through  the  gate  and  down  the  street  was 
accelerated  every  few  steps  in  the  manner  we  have 
described.  When  lie  reached  home  and  counted  up 
his  bruises,  he  registered  a  vow.  Henceforth,  when 
he  counsels  an  erring  brother,  he  will  choose  his 
opportunity  more  wisely,  and  the  admonitions  that 
he  gives  on  the  subject  of  celestial  marriage  will  be 
uttered  far  from  the  hearing  of  indignant  wTives 
armed  with  brooms." 

There  are  two  classes  of  Mormons.  One  class  is 
liberal  in  its  views,  and  appears  to  be  trying  hard 
to  get  a  knowledge  of  the  manners  and  customs  of 

©  © 

the  outside  world.  And  although  those  who  compose 
it  are  still  Mormons,  members  of  the  church,  they 
are  not  willing  to  adopt  or  believe  in  this  doctrine  of 
polygamy.  This  class  is  composed  principally  of 
young  men  and  young  women,  often  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  leading  Mormons,  generally  the  children 
of  the  first  or  legal  wife,  who  are,  as  a  rule,  bitterly 
opposed  to  polygamy.  From  this  class  every  year 
comes  a  multitude  of  what  the  Mormons  call,  and 
properly,  too,  apostates. 

The  other  class,  which  is  largely  in  the  majority, 
consists  of  those  who  shut  their  eyes  to  everything 
except  the  curses  of  the  Mormon  priesthood.  They 
are  mostly  foreigners,  brought  here  by  the  Mor- 
mon missionaries  from  almost  every  country  on 
the  globe.  The  greater  part  of  them  are  ignorant 
and  superstitious,  and  really  believe  all  that  the 
priesthood  claim  for  their  religion.  "With  this  class, 
polygamy  is  growing  in  favor,  and  T  am  inclined  to 


THE  TWIN  RELIC  327 

think  that  more  people  are  entering  polygamy  to- 
day than  ever  before.  In  some  settlements,  where 
the  inhabitants  are  all  Mormons  and  away  by  them- 
selves, polygamy  i-  very  generally  practiced. 

It  will  undoubtedly  seem  strange  to  yon  who  live 
in  a  country  where  law  is  respected,  and  if  violated, 
punishment  follows,  that  in  the  face  and  eyes  of  the 
law  of  Congress  these  people  continue  to  enter  this 
relation  :  but  so  it  is. 

The  reasons  for  this  are  not  wanting.  The  people 
hear  the  leaders,  especially  John  Taylor,  boast  of  the 
fact  that  no  government  on  earth  can  prevent  the 
practice  of  polygamy  in  Utah.  George  Q.  Cannon, 
home  on  leave  a  year  a^o  from  Congress,  said  the 
same  in  >ubstance.  and  polygamy  is  openly  preached 
in  their  meetings.  Public  sentiment  favors  it.  The 
man  who  opposes  it  i-  opposing  the  whole  community. 
while  he  who  favor>  it  i-  a  hero,  and  the  leaders  see  to 
it  that  he  is  rewarded. 

No  man  in  Utah  can  expect  any  political  prefer- 
ment who  is  opposed  to  polygamy.  This  rule  is  car- 
ried out  down  to  the  lowest  office  in  the  Territory. 

The  legislature  which  was  in  s^sion  this  last  win- 
ter, was  composed  almost  entirely  of  polygamies. 
Aii'l  the  United  States  C  ingress  appropriated  out  of 
Uncle  Sam's  money  from  $20,000  to  825.000  to  pay 
these  law-breakers  their  per  diem.  Men  who  not 
only  live  in  open  violation  of  the  laws  but  preach 
and  advise  others  to  do  so.  will  reach  out  their  hands 
and  take  from  the  Government  they  de-pise,  this 
$20,000,  while  in  their  hearts  they  are  continually 


328  WOMEN   OF  MOIiMONISM. 

planning  the  violation  of  its  laws,  and  defying  its 
power  to  punish  them. 

The  Mormon  leaders  decide  who  shall  hold  the  of- 
fices. Brigham  Young  did  not  conceal  this  fact. 
When  the  law  passed  Congress  forbidding  polyg- 
amy, Brigham  Young  openly  boasted  that  he  would 
crowd  polygamy  down  the  throats  of  the  United 
States  Congress,  and  he  did  it.  Captain  Hooper, 
then  in  Congress,  was  a  monogamist.  He  was  kept 
at  home,  and  Geo.  Q.  Cannon,  who  has  four  wives, 
who  was  twice  indicted,  and  who  is  notoriously  a 
potygainist  and  defiant  so  far  as  the  law  of  Congress 
is  concerned,  and  who  openly  preaches  the  foul  and 
abominable  doctrine,  was  the  pill  prepared  by 
Brigham  Young. 

The  Gentiles  protested,  sent  a  man  to  contest  his 
seat;  but  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  opened 
its  precious  mouth  and  swallowed  Geo.  Q.  Can- 
non, polygamy  and  all,  and  to-day  he  sits  among  the 
law-makers  for  this  Government  as  the  Honorable 
member  from  Utah;  so  Brigham  Young  was  able 
to  say,  and  John  Taylor  can  say,  "  This  is  the  way 
the  truly  faithful  are  rewarded."  Another  incentive 
for  entering  polygamy  and  advocating  it  is,  it  shows 
fidelity  to  the  church.  But  the  reason  paramount 
to  all  others  with  the  truly  sincere,  and  there  are 
some  sincere  ones,  is  that  by  it  they  expect  to  obtain 
spiritual  exaltation.  It  is  taught  by  the  Mormon 
priests  that  a  monogamist  will  occupy  a  very  humble 
position  in  the  other  world,  if  he  gains  celestial  glory 
at  all;  that  those  who  have  practiced  polygamy  will, 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  329 

in  the  next  world,  be  kings  and  queens,  and  that 
they  will  obtain  excellence  and  exaltation  in  propor- 
tion to  their  faithful  performance  of  the  tenets  of 
the  church,  especially  polygamy.  And  so,  if  a  Mor- 
mon has  a  friend  who  died  unmarried,  in  order  to 
save  that  friend  in  the  next  world,  he  gets  some  one 
to  be  sealed  to  his  friend  for  eternity.  It  simply 
means  marriage  for  eternity. 

But  I  am  not  willing  to  concede  that  any  of  these 
reasons  are  what  actuate  very  many  men.  I  think 
that  in  a  great  many  cases,  lust  is  the  only  incentive, 
and  that  the  church  and  this  bogus  religion  is  only  a 
cloak  they  use  to  cover  their  real  reasons. 

There  is,  however,  among  a  large  class  of  Mor- 
mons a  growing  feeling  of  dissatisfaction,  particu- 
larly among  the  younger  people.  They  are  begin- 
ning; to  understand  the  hollowness  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  church,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  examina- 
tions to  which  we  have  recently  subjected  Mormons 
who  have  been  summoned  as  jurors  has  had  some- 
thing to  do  in  bringing  this  about. 

Let  me  give  you  a  sample  of  one  of  these  examin- 
ations. At  the  last  term  of  court  in  the  Southern 
District,  I  was  examining  persons  summoned  to  sit  as 
a  grand  jury.  One  man  was  called  who  lived  in 
the  extreme  southern  portion  of  the  Territory.  He 
was  sworn  to  answer  such  questions  as  should  be 
put  to  him.  After  asking  the  usual  preliminary 
questions,  I  asked,  ' '  Do  you  believe  that  the  revelation 
claimed  to  have  been  received  by  Joseph  Smith,  with 
reference   to   polygamy,  came   from    God?" — Ans. 


330  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

"  Yes,  sir."  "  Do  you  believe  that  polygamy  is  a  law 
of  God  to  this  people?" — Ans.  "Yes,  sir,  I  know 
it  is."  "How  do  you  know  it?" — Ans.  "I  have 
been  told  it  was."  "By  whom?"  To  my  utter 
surprise  the  answer  was,  "By  the  Holy  Ghost." 
"When?" — Ans.   "When   I   was   nine  years  old." 

I  am  convinced  that  there  is  a  large  class  of  men 
in  Utah  to-day,  living  in  polygamy,  who  if  they 
could  honorably  release  themselves,  would  certainly 
do  so,  and  will  welcome  the  day,  if  it  ever  comes, 
that  frees  them  from  this  bondage. 

These  men  have  raised  and  have  about  them  large 
families,  in  many  cases  dependent  on  them  for  sup- 
port, and  they  feel  in  duty  bound  to  keep  the  fam- 
ilies together,  and  so  continue  in  this  relation. 

The  apostasy  from  the  Mormon  church  is  very 
great,  and  would  in  time  break  up  the  institution, 
were  it  not  for  immigration  which  largely  exceeds 
the  apostasy. 

Some  of  the  causes  which  tend  to  perpetuate  po- 
lygamy I  have  already  mentioned;  namely,  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  the  favor  of  the  leaders — political 
preferment, — to  show  fidelity  to  the  church  and  its 
doctrines,  and  to  obtain  spiritual  exaltation. 

To  the  reasons  already  advanced,  I  will  add:  The 
inability  of  the  Government  under  the  present  state 
of  the  laws  to  effectually  convict  and  punish  polyga- 
mists. 

And  I  charge  upon  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  in  a  great  measure,  the  perpetuation  of  this 
foul  crime.     Never  in  the  history  of  the  contest  has 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  331 

a  bill  tending  to  the  extinguishment  of  this  damna- 
ble institution  been  offered  in  Congress  except  it  had 
all  the  vitality  amended  out  of  it,  and  a  compromise 
measure  passed  which  was  an  elephant  to  handle. 
More  often  a  bill  has  been  entirely  defeated  in  the 
committee  to  which  it  was  referred,  by  some  man 
like  Proctor  Knott,  who  shows  every  symptom  of 
being  retained  in  the  interest  of  the  Mormon  church, 
and  never  reported  back  to  the  House — never  even 
introduced. 

Think  of  it!  The  crime  of  polygamy  in  Utah 
actually  outlaws  in  three  years'  time ! 

A  man  takes  a  plural  wife,  keeps  it  secret,  perhaps 
sends  her  home  to  her  own  parents  for  three  years, 
then  takes  her  to  his  harem  and  openly  lives 
with  her  as  his  wife,  and  he  can  snap  his  fingers  at 
the  officers  of  the  law.  The  statute  of  limitation 
protects  him.  There  is  no  law  punishing  adultery 
or  lewd  and  lascivious  cohabitation,  and  so  the  man 
who  can  hide  his  crime  for  three  years,  (and  there  is 
no  difficulty  where  he  has  the  whole  community  to 
help  him  as  he  has  here,)  goes  scot  free,  and  can 
practice  polygamy  openly. 

We  hear  the  cry  coming  up  to  us,  Why 
don't  you  punish  the  leaders?  The  answer  is,  Their 
crimes  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States  have  out- 
lawed, and  they  see  to  it  that  every  offense  does  out- 
law before  it  becomes  known. 

Representative  Willits,  of  Michigan,  introduced  in 
Congress,  this  session,  a  bill  repealing  this  law  of 
limitation  so  far  as  it  affects  this  crime,  and  other 


332  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

bills,  which,  if  they  could  be  passed  and  become 
laws,  would  shake  this  institution  from  center  to 
circumference.  On  being  introduced  in  the  House, 
they  were  referred  to  the  Judiciary  committee  of 
which  Proctor  Knott  is  chairman,  who  referred 
the  bills  to  a  sub-committee  of  two,  of  which  he  him- 
self was  one,  and  that  has  been  the  end  of  the 
Willits  bill. 

The  Mormons  have  always  had  a  man  or  two  in 
Congress  through  whom  they  have  been  able  to 
shape  legislation. 

If  there  is  one  thing  more  than  another  in  con- 
nection with  this  matter  to  be  hoped  and  prayed  for, 
it  is  that  men  who  understand  and  feel  the  impor- 
tance of  looking  after  this  problem  in  Utah  will  be 
elected  to  Congress  this  fall.  It  is  high  time  for  the 
people  all  over  this  country  to  make  themselves 
heard  upon  this  subject,  and  in  such  a  way  that 
they  may  be  understood. 

I  have  not  the  time  to  discuss  in  this  paper,  as 
fully  as  I  would  like,  the  evils  that  result  from 
polygamy.     I  can  only  mention  some  of  them. 

The  first  great  evil,  and  one  more  noticeable  in  Utah 
than  any  other,  is  licentiousness  and  prostitution. 
All  the  men,  women,  and  children  hear  this  abomi- 
nable relation  discussed  every  day  of  then  lives;  the 
attention  of  young  men  and  young  women  is  called 
continually  to  the  social  evil,  and  licentiousness  and 
prostitution  is  the  natural  result. 

The  second  is  a  general  disregard  of  morals,  result- 
ing  from    the   manner   in  which  the  children  are 


THE  TWIN  RELIC.  333 

raised.  A  man  with  from  twenty  to  sixty  children, 
and  from  half  a  dozen  to  a  dozen  women  who  think 
no  more  of  themselves  than  to  become  concubines, 
can  hardly  expect,  if  he  cares  to  consider  it,  that 
this  numerous  family  will  grow  up  possessing  a  high 
standard  of  morality. 

The  third  evil  is  untruthfulness,  and  when  nec- 
essary, false  swearing.  It  is  instilled  into  the 
minds  of  all  that  they  must  keep  as  a  secret  the 
relation  in  which  their  fathers  and  mothers  and 
brothers  and  sisters  are  living:  and  if  brought  into 
court,  it  is  no  crime  to  swear 'that  they  have  no 
knowledge  on  the  subject,  or  that  these  parties  are 
not  living  in  polygamy.  Indeed,  they  are  told,  and 
impressed  with  the  idea,  that  if  they  undertake  to 
divulge  the  facts  of  a  plural  marriage,  their  memory 
will  be  taken  away,  and  so  they  generally  swear  that 
they  cannot  remember. 

At  the  last  session  of  the  Third  District  Court  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  I  heard  more  perjury  to  shield 
polygamists,  in  one  day,  than  I  ever  heard  during  all 
the  time  I  lived  in  the  State  of  Michigan. 

The  fourth  is  its  destruction  of  all  the  finer  senti- 
ments of  men  and  women,  and  they  become  coarse 
and  gross.  Especially  is  this  true  in  the  case  of 
woman.  It  reduces  her  from  a  woman,  devoted,  trust- 
ing, loving,  and  to  be  loved,  to  a  mere  animal  or 
machine.  She  no  longer  lives ;  she  simply  exists,  to  be 
used  by,  and  to  serve  the  foul  purposes  of,  a  licentious, 
beastly  man. 

Love   and   hope   that  once  glowed  and   burned 


334  WOMEN  OF   M0BMONI8M. 

within  her,  have  gone  out  and  become  dead,  ashy 
embers. 

She  looks  into  the  eyes  of  the  child  at  her  breast 
without  hope-,  and  almost  shudders  for  its  future. 
The  eyes  once  full  of  hope  and  bright  with  anticipa- 
tion, have  become  lifeless  and  sunken;  and  if  you 
were  to  write;  the  cause  of  all  this,  it  would  be;  but 
one  word — ^polygamy. 

With  this  great  evil  upon  us,  we  naturally  ask, 
What  is  the  best  course  for  the  Government  to  pur- 
sue to  abolish  it? 

Upon  this  I  can  only  suggest  a  thought  or  two, 
and  must  leave  you  to  carry  out  the  argument;  for 
this,  if  fully  discussed,  would  consume  the  whole 
time  allotted  to  this  paper. 

First,  1  would  repeal  the  law  of  limitation  so  far 
as  it  protects  this  offense,  and  let  it  be  understood 
that  if  a  man  goes  into  polygamy,  and  thus  violates 
the  law  of  Congress,  the  crime  committed  would 
never  outlaw, — that  he  would  be  liable  to  prosecu- 
tion at  any  time  during  his  life.  This  is  my  favorite 
measure.  I  believe  it  would  be  more  potent  in 
breaking  up  polygamy  than  any  law  Congress 
could  pass.  The  little  dodge  I  have  mentioned,  of 
keeping  quiet  till  the  offense  outlawed,  would  not  be 
so  effectual. 

Second,  I  would  pass  a  law  prescribing  what 
should  constitute  marriage,  and  among  its  provisions 
I  would  require  a  public  record  of  the  marriage, 
which  should  be  in  all  cases  proof  of  the  marriage; 
and  T  would  not  recognize  the  legality  of  the  En- 
dowment House  marriage. 


THE  TWIN  HELIC  335 

Third,  I  would  disfranchise  every  person  who  is 
living  in  polygamy,  or  who  would  swear  he  believed 
it  right  or  a  religious  duty  to  practice  it. 

Fourth,  I  would  pass  a  law  forbidding,  and  pro- 
viding punishment  for,  adultery  and  lewd  and 
lascivious  cohabitation. 

Fifth,  I  would  make  cohabitation  and  the  admis- 
sion of  the  parties  evidence  of  marriage. 

Sixth,  I  would  make  polygamy  odious  in  every 
way s  and  would  commence  by  expelling  from  the 
United  States  Congress  the  notorious  polygamist, 
George  Q.  Cannon,  who  to-day  has  four  wives  living. 
I  would  do  this  if  for  no  other  reason  than  because  T 
think  it  a  disgrace  to  the  Government  to  allow  such 
a  man  to  sit  in  its  Congress. 

Seventh,  I  would  abolish  the  Territorial  lesrisla- 
tui  e,  of  which  nine-tenths  of  the  members  are  polyg- 
amists. 

These  are  a  few  mild  remedies  I  would  apply  to 
this  ulcer,  and  I  would  increase  them  as  I  discovered 
(he  needs  of  the  patient.  And  if  mild  applications 
proved  ineffectual,  I  would  carve  the  infamous  thing 
from  the  body  politic. 

A  work  is  being  done  here  by  men  and  women 
who  are  true  missionaries.  Gentiles,  Christian  min- 
isters, and  teachers  are  establishing  schools  all  over 
the  Territory.  I  wish  I  could  give  you  the  history 
of  these  schools,  and  the  good  they  are  doing ;  but  you 
can  imagine,  knowing  as  you  do  that  education  is 
the  forerunner  of  civilization,  and  the  lighting  up 
of  dark  places.     Every  church  that  has  a  foothold 


336  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

in  Salt  Lake  City,  has  established  a  school;  and 
among  the  prosperous  schools  is  Salt  Lake;  Academy, 
under  the  management  of  the  Congregational  church, 
with  Prof.  Edward  Benner  as  principal. 

The  mining  resources  of  the  Territory  are  bring- 
ing business  men  into  the  country,  and  will  in  time 
be  powerful  in  abolishing  the  peculiar  institution. 

You  Christian  ministers  of  the  State  of  Michigan 
have  a  work  to  do  in  this  matter,  and  if  you  fail  to 
do  it,  you  must  be  held  responsible  for  that  neglect. 

I  call  upon  you  to  arouse  the  people  in  your  sev- 
eral congregations  upon  this  subject.  So  shape  pub- 
lic sentiment,  and  so  interest  the  community,  that 
your  influence  will  be  felt  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  to  the  end  that  we  may  have  such 
legislation  as  will  lead  to  the  utter  overthrow  in  this 
country  of  this  infamous  practice. 

I  would  not  have  it  understood  that  all  is  utter 
darkness,  or  that  we  feel  discouraged  in  the  work, 
for  it  is  not  so.  There  are  times  when  discourage- 
ments seem  to  cast  a  shadow  over  us;  but  the  light 
is  beginning  to  dawn,  and  I  believe  there  will  come 
a  day — how  soon  is  for  the  people  of  this  great  na- 
tion to  say — when  this  "  Twin  Relic  of  Barbarism  " 
will,  like  American  Slavery,  be  in  the  history  of 
this  country  a  thing  of  the  past.  May  God  hasten 
the  day. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

BY  HON.  T.  T.  VAN  ZILE,  U.  S.  DIST.  ATT'Y  FOR  UTAH.* 

Difficulties  in  the  Way  of  Convicting  Mormons. — How  to  Crush 
It. — Law  of  Limitation. — Disfranchise  the  Polygamists. — Pun- 
ish Adultery.— "  Don't  Persecute  Us." — Mormon  Buncombe. — 
Treason.— No  Kid-Glove  Proceedings. — The  Young  Men 

LETTER  NUMBER  ONE. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  Jan.  11,  1881. 
jOUR  letter  of  December  28,  1880,  asking  in 
substance  why  the  law  of  Congress  forbid- 
ding polygamy  in  the  Territories  is  not  en- 
forced in  Utah,  is  at  hand,  and  I  take 
occasion  at  this,  my  earliest  opportunity,  to 
answer  you. 
In  your  letter  you  seem  to  assume  that  no 
efforts  are  made  to  execute  the  law.  This  is  by  no 
means  correct.  Every  effort  that  can  be  made,  is 
made  by  the  officers ;  and  some  cases  have  been  pros- 
ecuted and  convictions  obtained.  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, that  a  majority  of  the  offenders  go  un whipped 
of  justice,  and  this  must  continue  to  be  the  case 
until  Congress  takes  this  matter  in  hand,  and  enacts 


*  These  letters  were  addressed  to  the  editor  of  the  Inter-Ocean, 
and  were  published  in  that  paper  in  1SS1  and  1882. 

(337) 


22 


338  WOMEN   OF  MOJIMONISM. 

some  further  laws.  This  question  has  been  handled 
with  gloves  when  handled  at  all.  The  poultice 
policy  has  been  too  long  in  favor,  and  to  Congn-ss 
belongs  the  blame  for  not  ridding  the  country  of  this 
foul  .stain,  polygamy.  They  have,  to  be  sure,  enact <  d 
a  law  forbidding  polygamy  and  declaring  it  a  crime ; 
but  for  these  many  years  they  have  permitted  our 
hands  to  be  tied  by  failing  to  enact  measures  that 
are  necessary  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law,  so  that 
to-day  the  law  is  not  respected. 

The  law  we  are  called  upon  to  enforce  reads  as  fol- 
lows:— 

Sec.  5352.  "  Every  person  having  a  hnsband  or  wife  liv- 
ing who  marries  another,  whether  married  or  single  ::"  *  * 
is  guilty  of  bigamy  and  shall  be  punished. "    *   *   * 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  offense  consists  in 
"  marrying  another."  In  other  words,  it  is  the  mar- 
riage that  constitutes  the  offense,  and  therefore,  it  is 
the  marriage  that  must  be  proven.  In  order  to  con- 
vict a  man  of  bigamy,  it  is  incumbent  upon  the 
prosecution  to  prove  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt — 

Fiist,  That  the  defendant  at  the  time  it  is  al- 
leged he  committed  the  offense  had  a  lawful  wife 
living. 

Second,  That  having  a  lawful  wife  living,  he 
married  another — not  that  he  lives  and  cohabits  with 
another,  but  that  he  married  another. 

Third,  That  this  bigamous  marriage  was  solem- 
nized within  the  last  three  years  past.  For,  strange 
as  it  may  seem.  (  ongress  has  allowed  this  crime  of 
bigamy  to  be  subject  to  the  general  limitation  law. 


•  SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  339 

Now,  with  these  propositions  in  our  mind,  let  us 
look  at  some  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  success- 
fully prosecuting  one  of  these  Mormon  saints  (?). 

The  first  thing  a  federal  officer  has  impressed  upon 
his  mind  when  he  undertakes  to  enforce  this  law,  is 
that  he  is  in  Utah,  and  not  in  the  State  of  Illinois, 
or  in  any  other  of  the  States  in  this  Union,  and  it  is 
by  no  means  fair  to  judge  us  by  what  would  be  ex- 
pected of  the  prosecuting  officers  in  the  States. 
There  the  entire  community  demands  and  expects 
that  if  a  man  commits  bigamy  he  will  be  punished. 
Every  man,  woman,  and  child  cry  out  against  the 
crime.  In  Utah  we  have  the  reverse,  or  nearly  so. 
The  last  census  gave  Utah  143,900  inhabitants,  or 
thereabouts.  Out  of  this  number  at  least  100,000 
are  real  or  pretended  believers  in,  and  advocates  of, 
this  foul  crime  of  polygamy.  They  preach  it  and 
hear  it  preached  in  their  church  openly  from  week 
to  week.  Their  fathers  and  mothers,  sisters  and 
brothers,  perhaps,  practice  it.  Many  of  them  are 
the  children  of  polygamous  marriages.  This  public 
sentiment,  which  has  possession  of  the  whole  Terri- 
tory, urges  every  individual  to  obstruct,  in  every  way 
possible,  the  enforcement  of  this  law  of  Congress. 
They  excuse  their  acts  to  their  own  consciences 
by  about  this  kind  of  reasoning: — 

"God,  through  his  prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  has 
revealed  it  unto  this  people  that  they  should  practice 
polygamy.  God's  law  sanctions,  if  it  does  not  com- 
mand, that  this  people  practice  polygamy.  Opposed 
to  it  is  the  law  of  man.     Which,  when  they  conflict, 


340  WOMEN  OF  M0RM0NI8M. 

should  be  violated,  God's  law,  or  man's  law? — Why, 
man's  law,  of  course." 

Every  Mormon  marriage  is  solemnized  in  the  En- 
dowment House.  No  person  is  permitted  to  enter 
this  house  except  the  tried  and  faithful  Mormon, 
and  all  who  do  enter  are  sworn  never  to  reveal  any- 
thing that  transpires.  Because  of  this  secret  mar- 
riage ceremony,  the  greatest  difficulty  is  experienced 
in  executing  the  law.  You,  who  wonder  that  this 
law  is  not  enforced,  stop  for  a  moment  and  consider 
the  situation  herein  Utah,  in  the  light  of  these  facts. 
The  sentiment  of  the  whole  Territory  is  opposed  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  law,  and  the  offense  is  com- 
mitted only  in  the  presence  of  those  who  swear  never 
to  reveal  it,  who  are,  in  fact,  partic&ps  eri  minis  to 
the  offense.  With  this  state  of  facts  can  you  expect 
successful  prosecutions  of  polygamy  cases? 

Daniel  H.  Wells,  the  first  counselor  to  President 
John  Taylor,  was  summoned  by  the  prosecution  in 
the  case  of  John  Miles;  but  rather  than  reveal  what 
took  place  in  the  Endowment  House,  he  suffered  im- 
prisonment for  contempt.  Before  the  court  made 
the  order,  however,  he  testified  that  he  was  under  a 
sworn  obligation  not  to  reveal  what  transpired. 

A  third  obstruction  to  the  enforcement  of  this  law 
is,  these  offenses  are  generally  known  only  to  Mor- 
mons, who  believe  that  polygamy  is  a.  law  of  God 
unto  the  people,  and  that  the  law  of  Congress  is 
simply  enacted  to  persecute  the  Mormons.  Upon 
these  pei-soiis  tin-  prosecution  must  largely  rely  for 
proof  of  the  oftense  charged.      Jt  is  difficult  for  you 


SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  34 1 

to  understand  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  the 
facts  before  a  court  and  jury  from  such  witnessesl 
Why,  perhaps  the  very  witness  you  rely  on  is  him- 
self a  polygamist,  at  that  moment  as  guilty  as  the 
man  on  trial ;  besides,  he  does  not  wish  to  sec  a  con- 
viction, and  is  opposed  to  the  prosecution  in  every 
way.  He  has  taken  an  oath,  to  which  is  attached 
a  horrible  penalty,  never  to  reveal  the  very  matter 
concerning  which  he  is  asked  to  testify. 

Do  you  think  for  a  moment  that  such  a  witness  is 
available  ? 

What  is  the  result  generally?  These  witnesses 
have  convenient  memories,  or  rather  a  convenient 
way  of  forgetting.  They  can't  remember.  I  have 
known  witnesses  to  remember  every  other  circum- 
stance connected  with  the  case  except  the  all-impor- 
tant fact,  the  marriage, — that  they  had  no  recollec- 
tion of  (?).  And  horrible  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  never- 
theless true  that  these  witnesses,  when  pressed  to  the 
wall,  and  the  general  answer  "I  don't  recollect" 
will  not  do,  will  perjure  themselves,  rather  than 
reveal  the  facts. 

Mothers  and  fathers  will  testify  they  know  noth- 
ing about  the  marriage  of  their  daughters  who  are 
living  with  polygamists  and  rearing  children;  plural 
wives  will  swear  that  they  are  only  mistresses;  and, 
in  fact,  almost  any  statement  will  be  made  to  evade 
the  law,  and  they  will  satisfy  their  consciences,  by 
the  all-consoling  belief  that  they  did  it  for  "  Christ's 
sake." 

The  first  or  lawful  wife  is  not  allowed  to  testify 


342  WOMEN  OF   MuliMONISM. 

as  a  witness,  and  so  it  often  happens  that  the  first 
or  legal  marriage  is  more  difficult  to  prove  than  the 
second  or  polygamous  marriage.  Often  the  first 
marriage  was  solemnized  in  a  foreign  country;  for 
it  will  be  remembered  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
Mormons  are  foreigners.  The  certificates  of  mar- 
riage will  not  do;  the  defendant  must  be  con- 
fronted with  the  witnesses. 

The  fact  that  the  offense  must  have  been  commit- 
ted within  the  last  three  years,  shields  nine-tenths 
of  all  the  polygamy  in  Utah  to-day.  It  is  generally 
understood  that  this  crime  outlaws  in  three  years; 
and  with  this  limitation  law  in  view,  a  Mormon  takes 
a  young  girl  into  the  Endowment  House,  and  she  is 
sealed  to  him  as  a  polygamous  or  plural  wife.  She 
then  goes  home  to  her  father's  house,  and  lives  for 
three  years  apart  from  her  polygamous  husband. 
The  fact  is  kept  quiet  by  those  who  know  about  it 
until  the  offense  is  outlawed ;  then  the  polygamous 
husband  calls  for  his  concubine,  and  lives  with  her 
in  open  defiance  of  the  Government  or  its  officers. 

The  honorable  member  from  Utah,  one  of  the 
nation's  law-makers,  George  Q.  Cannon,  who  has 
four  wives,  slipped  his  neck  out  because  of  this  lim- 
itation law;  and  to-day,  instead  of  being  in  the  peni- 
tentiary, he  is  allowed  to  disgrace  the  Government  of 
these  United  States — a  Government  for  which  he  has 
no  respect,  and  whose  laws  he  violates  and  openly 
counsels  others  to  violate — by  sitting  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  as  delegate  for  this  Territory.  Is 
it  to  be  wondered  at  that  loyal,  law-abiding  citizens 
become  disheartened . 


SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  343 

It  should  further  be  understood,  in  connection  with 
the  difficulties  I  have  mentioned,  that  there  are  no 
laws  forbidding  adultery,  lewd  and  lascivious 
cohabitation,  incest,  or  seduction  in  this  Territory, 
otherwise  we  might  arrest  these  offenders  for  adultery, 
the  plural  marriage  being  void.  The  only  law  we 
have  to  correct  the  evil  is  this  law  of  Congress  above 
quoted. 

In  view  of  the  situation  I  have  urged  the  passage 
of  certain  bills  by  Congress,  which,  it  seems  to  me, 
would  go  a  great  way  toward  helping  out  the  diffi- 
culty. Concerning  these  bills  I  will  write  you  at 
some  future  time. 


LETTER  NUMBER  TWO. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  Feb.  10,  1881. 

It  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  deal  in  generalities.  It 
is  no  hard  thing  for  us  to  say,  "  Congress  should 
pass  such  laws  as  will  effectually  put  an  end  to  this 
vile  practice — polygamy — in  the  Territory;"  but 
when  we  come  to  specify  what  measures  should  be 
enacted,  then  it  is  that  we  are  often  bewildered. 

There  are  in  this  country  two  distinct  parties  that 
have  taken  issue  with  each  other  upon  this  Mormon 
question.  One  party  contends  that  this  problem 
must  be  solved  by  moral  suasion,  that  there  is  no 
necessity  for  Congress  to  pay  much  attention  to  the 
subject,  but  that  the  missionary,  school-teacher,  and 
preacher,   will   solve   the   question   and   regenerate 


344  women  of  mormon  ism. 

Utah.  The  other  party  believes  and  advocates  that 
the  school-teachers  and  ministers  are  necessary,  but 
that  Congress  must  also  step  into  the  breach  and 
pass  rigid  laws, — laws  that  carry  with  them  such 
provisions  as  will  enable  the  officers  to  enforce  them. 
To  this  latter  class  I  belong. 

I  know  the  cry  raised  by  our  friends  upon  the 
other  side  is,  "You  are  asking  for  class  legislation, 
you  are  making  a  specialty  of  these  Mormon  fanat- 
ics." Call  it  what  you  please;  I  know  that  the 
United  States  must  act  in  this  matter,  or  soon  this 
ulcer  will  have  spread  and  assumed  such  proportions 
that  the  Government  can  only  rid  itself  by  severing 
it  from  the  body  politic. 

You  who  cry,  "  Let  it  alone,  and-  apply  moral 
suasion,"  do  you  remember  that  the  other  "twin 
relic,"  American  slavery,  which,  thank  God,  is  no 
more,  set  up  the  same  cry?  And,  oh,  to  the  shame 
of  this  great  nation  it  must  be  witten!  for  years 
and  years  we  did  let  it  alone,  until  the  bitter  wail  of 
five  million  souls  went  up  to  God,  and  this  nation 
was  drenched  in  blood.  To-day,  not  millions,  but 
thousands,  of  burdened  souls,  who  have  experienced 
the  beastly  practice,  polygamy, — souls  whose  light 
has  nearly  gone  out  in  this  world,  and  whose  faith 
in  mankind  is  weak,  if  not  extinct, — are  praying  for 
the  day  when  they  may  be  disenthralled  from  a 
slavery  which  has  been  a  living  death  to  them. 

If  every  Congressman  could  hear  the  experience 
of  some  of  the  legal  wives  in  Utah  related  by  them- 
selves,  and  hear  the  earnest    prayers  often  spoken 


Pkes.  JOHN  TAYLOR. 
Thk  Successor  op  Bbioham  Young. 


SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  345 

aloud,  but  oftener  prayed  in  secret,  there  would  be 
no  need  of  any  lobby  at  the  Capitol  to  urge  that 
laws  be  passed  that  would  eventually  stamp  out  this 
relic  of  barbarism. 

The  time  has  passed,  if  it  ever  was,  when  this 
sickly  sentimentality,  "  Moral  suasion  and  let-it- 
alone  doctrine,"  would  satisfy  the  ends  of  justice. 
The  time  has  come,  and  now  is,  when  this  Govern- 
ment must  act,  must  see  that  its  laws  are  vindi- 
cated, and  that  its  dignity  is  upheld.  But  how  is 
this  to  be  done?     What  laws  are  needed? 

We  all  agree  that  the  leaders,  those  who  are  not 
only  violating  and  living  in  open  violation  of  the 
law  themselves,  but  are  urging  others  to  violate  and 
disregard  the  law,  should  be  punished.  How  is 
this  to  be  done?  John  Taylor,  the  president  of  the 
saintly  (?)  gang,  will  stand  up  and  proclaim  to  the 
public  that  he  is  in  polygamy,  and  is  glad  of  it. 
And  there  are  plenty  of  others  who  do  the  same 
thing.  They  have  all  violated  the  law  of  Congress 
prohibiting  polygamy,  hut  they  arc  protected  by  the 
law  of  limitation.  More  than  three  years  have 
expired  since  they  "married  another,"  that  is, 
committed  the  crime  of  bigamy.  This  law  of  limit- 
ation is  a  perfect  protection  to  them,  and  will 
successfully  ward  off  any  and  all  attacks  that  the 
Government  with  its  present  weapons  can  make 
upon  them.  In  other  words,  the  United  States  says 
to  them,  "Now,  you  must  not  live  in  polygamy,  for 
if  you  do,  I  shall  punish  you  unless  you  keep  it 
quiet  for  three  years;  but  if  you  keep  it  quiet  for 


346  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

three  years  after  your  plural  marriage,  why  then 
you  can  live  in  polygamy  all  the  rest  of  your  lives, 
and  you  may  even  go  to  Congress,  and  help  to  make 
the  laws." 

First,  and  above  all  others,  I  would  have  the  law 
of  limitation,  so  far  as  it  affects  this  crime  of  big- 
amy, repealed.  Let  it  be  understood  by  every  one, 
that  at  no  time  during  his  natural  life  can  a  man 
live  in  polygamy  in  this  country  without  being  lia- 
ble to  prosecution. 

It  seems  to  me  no  worse  to  live  in  polygamy  the 
first  three  years  after  contracting  plural  marriage 
than  any  subsecpient  three  years.  A  bill  of  this 
kind  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Willits,  of  Michigan, 
during  the  early  part  of  the  present  session,  and  is 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the 
House.  Why  that  committee  does  not  report,  is  a 
mystery  to  the  friends  of  the  bill.  That  such  a 
measure  is  proper,  there  can  be  no  question.  Why, 
then,  should  that  committee  withhold  their  report, 
and  thus  prevent  Congress  from  acting,  and  the  bill 
from  becoming  a  law?  Let  it  be  once  understood 
by  these  Mormon  law-breakers  that  time  will  not 
cure  the  offense,  but  that  the  strong  arm  of  law  is 
raised,  and  may  at  any  time  fall  on  their  defenseless 
heads  if  they  dare  to  violate  the  law,  and  there  will 
be  a  hesitating  and  reflecting  before  they  take  the 
step.  If  such  a  law  had  been  enacted  at  the  time 
the  law  forbidding  polygamy  in  the  Territories  was 
enacted,  three-fourths  of  the  leaders  could  be  pun- 
ished to-day.  If  I  could  have  but  one  law,  I  would 
have  this  to  aid  the  law  of  '02. 


SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  347 

Secondly,  I  would  by  law  disfranchise  every  man  or 
woman  who  lives  in  polygamy,  or  aids,  abets,  or  coun- 
sels polygamous  marriages.  Let  it  be  understood 
that  before  they  can  have  a  voice  in  governing  this 
country,  they  must  be  loyal,  and  respect  the  laws. 
The  ruling  party  here  not  only  violate  the  solemn 
mandates  of  the  United  States  Government,  but 
they  openly  and  publicly  defy  the  Government  and 
its  officers  to  enforce  the  laws.  They  laugh  in  our 
faces  at  our  efforts,  and  openly  and  publicly  counsel 
their  people  to  disregard  this  law  prohibiting  polyg- 
amy. Polygamy  must  be  made  odious,  and  no 
longer  allowed  to  be  a  prerequisite  to  civil  Territo- 
rial office,  as  it  has  been,  and  is  now,  to  a  large  ex- 
tent in  this  Territory.  At  least,  ninety -five  per 
cent  of  the  last  Legislature  were  polygaraists.  A 
monogamist  is  not,  as  a  rule,  allowed  to  hold  an 
important  office.     Thus  polygamy  is  at  a  premium. 

A  bill  should  be  passed  by  Congress,  and  become 
a  law,  providing  that  no  man  or  woman  can  cast  a 
a  vote  or  hold  an  office  until  it  clearly  appears  that 
they  are  not  living  in  polygamy;  that  they  have 
not,  and  do  not,  cause,  aid,  or  abet  others  to  contract 
or  consummate  plural  or  bigamous  marriages.  This 
bill  should  contain  a  test  oath,  which  in  substance 
should  be  that  the  person  proposing  to  vote  or  hold 
office  is  not  at  the  time  living  in  polygamy,  or  with 
more  than  one  woman  whom  he  calls  wife ;  that  he 
has  not,  since  the  passage  of  the  law,  counseled, 
aided,  or  abetted  others,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  violate  the  law  prohibiting  bigamy  or  polygamy  in 
the  Territories. 


348  WOMEN  OF  MORMONIfiM. 

That  the  object  of  the  law  might  not  in  any 
way  be  defeated,  it  should  further  provide  that  any 
persons  desiring  to  do  so  may  question  the  vote  of  a 
person  required  to  take  the  oath,  and  even  intro- 
duce witnesses  to  contradict  him ;  and  if  it  appeared, 
either  by  the  test  oath  or  by  outside  testimony,  that 
the  person  was  disqualified  by  reason  of  his  polyga- 
mous relations,  or  his  counsel  or  acts  in  relation  to 
others,  he  should  be  disfranchised. 

Let  us  no  longer  press  the  venomous  reptile  to 
our  bosoms,  and  thus,  while  caressing  him,  allow 
him  to  thrust  his  poisonous  fangs  into  our  bodies; 
but  rather  let  the  Government  rise  up  and  throttle 
him.  Let  loyalty,  not  disloyalty,  be  at  a  premium. 
Let  the  law-abiding  American  citizen  rule  the  coun- 
try by  his  vote,  and  be  the  officer  who  shall  make 
and  enforce  the  laws. 

I  am  convinced  that  the  young  men  of  Utah, 
sons  of  the  leaders  in  the  Mormon  church,  would 
hail  the  passage  of  such  a  law.  Such  a  law  would 
not  only  make  polygamy  odious,  but  it  would  open 
the  way  for  the  young  men  of  Utah  to  hold  offices 
of  trust  and  importance.  And  those  young  nun 
who  do  not  believe  in  polygamy,  but  rather  believe 
in  obeying  the  law,  would  greatly  assist  in  leading 
this  Territory  out  of  its  midnight  crime  and  bigotry 
into  the  light  of  free  government.  Such  a  law 
would  Americanize  Utah,  and  this,  above  all  things, 
is  what  it  needs. 

To-day,  John  Taylor,  president  of  the  Mormon 
church,  and   his  counselors  dictate  who  shall   hold 


ZION'S  CO-OPERATIVE  MERCANTILE  INSTITUTION. 


DESERET  NATIONAL  BANK   BUILDING. 


SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  349 

the  offices,  from  delegate  down  to  the  lowest  place. 
This  is  a  theocratic  government  through  and  through. 
Let  Congress  pass  the  law  I  am  asking  for,  and  the 
Samson  would  bo,  to  a  great  extent,  shorn  of  his 
locks.  The  people  who  an  i  law-abiding  would  at  once 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  government  of  this  Ter- 
ritory was  referred  to  them,  and  like  true  Ameri- 
cans, they  would  step  to  the  front,  and  a  Repub- 
lican form  of  government  would  be  vouchsafed  to 
Utah.  Liberty  and  freedom  to  speak,  vote,  and  act 
would  lighten  up  benighted  Utah.  Theocracy,  big- 
otry, and  fanaticism  would  perish,  and  become  as 
dead  in  the  black  midnight  of  ignorance.  May 
God  speed  the  day!  Such  a  bill  as  this  was  also 
presented  by  Mr.  Willits,  early  in  the  present  ses- 
sion, and  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee of  the  House. 

Thirdly,  I  would  have  a  law  enacted  forbidding, 
and  providing  a  punishment  for,  adultery  and  lewd 
and  lascivious  cohabitation  in  the  Territories,  and  so 
define  these  offenses  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  but 
that  they  applied  to  those  living  with  plural  wives; 
and  I  would  give  the  first  or  legal  wife  a  right  to 
testify.  Such  a  law  would  bring  consternation  to 
this  polygamous  institution.  But  that  there  might 
not  be  any  spirit  of  persecution  exhibited  toward 
these  deluded  women  who  have  been  living  in  po- 
lygamy, I  would  give  them  a  portion  of  the  prop- 
erty, and  a  reasonable  support  out  of  the  estate. 

This  law  would  reach  out  and  take  into  its  fond 
embrace  all  these  leaders,  who,  week  after    week, 


350  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

preach  this  outrageous  doctrine,  and  advise  others 
to  adopt  and  practice  it. 

Fourthly,  I  would  say  that,  next  in  importance, 
there  is  needed  a  marriage  law,  something  like  the 
Ohio  law,  which  requires  a  license  to  issue  before  a 
couple  can  be  legally  married.  This  license  should 
be  issued  f rom  the  United  States  District  Court  by 
the  clerk,  and  a  record  kept;  and  this,  together 
with  the  certificate  which  should  be  required  to  be 
issued  by  the  person  performing  the  ceremony, 
ought  to  be  made  proof  of  the  marriage  in  all  cases 
in  court,  including  bigamy  cases.  This  law  should 
also  forbid,  and  provide  punishment  for,  secret  En- 
dowment House  marriages.  A  law  of  this  kind 
could  be  so  drafted  that  we  should  no  longer  be  at 
the  mercy  of  those  who,  in  the  Endowment  House 
ceremony,  have  sworn  never  to  reveal  what  took 
place. 

The  present  election  law  is  a  fraud  upon  every 
outsider  or  non-Mormon,  placing  everything  in  the 
hands  of  the  Mormon  church.  Also  the  jury  laws 
need  revising.  But  I  will  not  take  time  to  explain 
them.  We  cannot  expect  all  our  ills  to  be  cured  at 
once. 

There  has  been  too  great  fear  that  some  law-break- 
ing Mormon  might  be  persecuted.  This  has  been  the 
cry  of  the  Mormons.  At  home  they  stalk  abroad  defy- 
ing the  Government  and  its  laws;  but  when  the  Gov- 
ernment attempts  to  put  its  hands  upon  them, 
they  go  cringing  about  like  whipped  cms,  and  cry, 
"Don't  persecute  us,  don't  persecute  us!     We  are 


SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  351 

only  worshiping  God  according  to  the  dictates  of 
our  own  conscience." 

I  want  to  see  this  Government  rise  up  in  all  its 
dignity  and  power,  and  no  longer  listen  to  the 
whimpering  curs  who  cry  persecution.  Let  it  be 
understood  in  this  Territory  that  the  Government 
will  no  longer  tolerate  this  dirty  business,  that  it 
will  enact  such  laws  as  those  polygamous  Govern- 
ment-haters cannot  evade  and  escape,  and  in  a 
dozen  years  this  country  will  be  regenerated,  and 
polygamy  will  be  odious. 

We  have  soothed  and  petted  this  institution  too 
long.  Whenever  it  has  cried  out  persecution,  too 
many  have,  like  Sargent  of  California,  sympathized 
to  the  extent  of  granting  that  it  was  their  religion, 
when  there  is  no  religion  about  it,  but  the  re- 
verse— crime.*  Don't  let  us  have  any  more  warm, 
soothing  applications,  but  let  us  have  purgatives  in 
allopathic  doses.  Let  it  be  understood  that  this  in- 
stitution will  no  longer  be  tolerated.  No  one  need 
fear  the  result.  They  have  threatened,  and  may 
do  so  again,  but  do  n't  fear ;  there  will  not  be  even 
a  ripple  on  the  wave. 

When  these  chaps  who  are  loudest  in  their  threats, 
once  understand  that  Uncle  Sam  means  business, 
they  will  not  only  subside,  but  in  ten  years  swear 
that  they  never  advocated  the  doctrine. 

*See  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in  Appendix,  page  401. 


352  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

LETTER  NUMBER  THREE. 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  Jan.  0,  1882. 

In  a  recent  publication  we  were  treated  to  a 
report  of  an  interview  by  a  World  reporter  with  one 
of  our  leading  Mormons  now  in  New  York,  himself 
a  polygamist  and  bishop  of  the  institution  called  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints. 

Oar  bishop  tells  the  reporter,  among  other  things, 
"I  do  not  anticipate  that  Congress  will  act  rashly  or 
unadvisedly,  and  our  own  people  express  no  fear  of 
any  such  action.  It  would  be  hard  to  say  what 
would  be  the  result  should  the  Government  act  indis- 
creetly. Our  people  arc  peace-loving  and  law-abid- 
ing, but  they  are  not  to  be  trodden  upon  with  im- 
punity." 

To  us  who  have  lived  in  the  Territory  and  had  to 
do  with  this  "  monstrosity,"  who  have  desired  so 
long  to  see  the  Government  assert  itself  and  stamp 
out  this  accursed  relic  of  barbarism,  (his  kind  of  talk 
is  not  new.  But  this  is  genuine  Mormon  buncombe 
of  the  mildest  kind. 

The  fact  is,  there  are,  out  in  Utah,  a  few 
thousand  men  and  women  who  are  supported  by  a 
so-called  church,  having  the  base  and  diabolical 
i lod  rinc  of  polygamy  as  one,  if  not  the  principal,  of 
its  corner-stones.  This  so-called  church,  with  its 
dastardly,  law-defying  leaders  and  law-breakers, 
largely  foreigners,  occupies  a  portion  of  the  Unite.! 
States,  and  enjoys  the  protection  of  the  laws  and  the 
general  prosperity  brought  its  members  by  reason  of 


SOME  SUGGESTIVE  LETTERS.  353 

being  within  the  boundaries  of  this  nation.     These 
men  and  women  say  to  this  Government:  "  We  ad- 
mit that  we  violate  and  destroy  your  laws.     We 
have  done  so  openly  and  defiantly  since  1862.     We 
have  gathered  together,  out  on  the  mountains  and 
in  valleys  of  one  of  your  Territories,  a  few  thousand 
people  whom  we  advise  to  violate  your  laws,  and 
teach   defiance   to   this   country.     We  never  have 
obeyed,  and  do  not  now  intend  to  obey,  the  law.     <  hi 
the  contrary,  we  openly  and  defiantly  asset,  and  it  is 
one  of  the  tenets  of  our  so-called  church,  that  we  will 
disobey  your  laws,  and  advise  others  to  do  so."  And 
now,  this  bishop,  one  of  the  leaders,  addressing  this 
Government  and  its  Congress,  says,  in  substance,  Be 
very  careful  how  you  act.      His  exact  words  are, 
"It  would  be  hard  to  say  what  would  be  the  re- 
result  should  the  Government  act  indiscreetly.     Our 
people  are  peace-loving  and  law-abiding,  but  they 
are  not  to  be  trodden  upon  with  impunity." 

And  this  same  man  claims  to  be  a  naturalized 
citizen  of  the  United  States.  And  to  become  such, 
he  swore  in  one  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States 
thathewas  well  disposed  toward  the  Government, 
that  he  was  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  that  he  would  obey  it. 

What  do  you  think  of  this,  gentlemen  who  are 
called  upon  to  make  the  laws,  and  who  have  the  wel- 
fare and  honor  of  your  country  at  heart? 

In  those  turbulent  days  of  1859,  '60,  and  '01, 
when  we  heard  some  of  the  citizens  of  this  nation 
say  that  slavery  was  a  divine  institution,  and  this 

23 


354  WOMEN   OF   MORMONISM. 

Government  had  hotter  be  careful  how  it  interfered ; 
that  a  certain  faction  in  the  nation  would  resist  any 
such  interference,  or  using  the  language  of  this 
bishop,  "  It  would  be  hard  to  say  what  would  be  the 
result  should  the  Government  act  indiscreetly,"  such 
talk  in  defiance  of  law,  in  defiance  of  loyalty,  and 
in  every  way  opposed  to  good  citizenship,  was  then 
called  treason.  It  meant  treason  then,  and  no  other 
construction  can  be  put  upon  it  to-day. 

And  has  it  come  to  this,  that  these  Mormons,  one 
hundred  thousand  strong,  are  to  dictate  to  the  Con- 
gress what  laws  are  to  be  passed? 

There  is  no  danger  that  Congress  will  pass  any  laws 
that  will  be  too  extreme.  The  subject  to  be  dealt  with 
is  one  that  demands  heroic,  treatment. "  Extraordi- 
nary cases  demand  extraordinary  remedies.  That 
something  must  be  done,  and  done  at  once,  we  all 
agree.  And  I  think  I  may  say  that  it  is  generally 
conceded  that  mild  measures  will  hardly  meet  the 
case.  That  this  is  a  matter  that  must  receive 
immediate  and  decided  attention  is  evident.  What 
shall  we  do?  What  will  be  adequate?  These  are 
the  questions,  and  the  only  questions,  to  be  con- 
sidered. 

I  have  already  expressed  myself  in  a  former  let- 
ter upon  the  question  of  needed  legislation.  I  do 
not  intend  to  again  go  over  the  ground,  but  only 
desire  to  call  attention  to  one  of  the  measures  I  then 
advocated.  A  religious  fanaticism  is  very  difficult 
to  regulate.  It  can  hardly  be  done  by  punishing  a 
few  individual  fanatics.       Every  man  who  has  been 


HOME  SrailEXTlVE  LETTER*.  355 

convicted  of  polygamy  has  been  looked  upon  as  a 
martyr,  and  thus  is  rather  raised  in  the  estimation 
of  the  rest  of  the  people.  Prosecutions  should  be 
pushed,  and  the  law  so  amended  as  to  make  con- 
victions more  easily  attainable,  I  might  say,  possible; 
but  prosecutions  and  incarcerations  in  the  peniten- 
tiary will  never  break  up  polygamy  in  Utah.  There 
was  a  day  when  it  would,  but  that  day  has  passed, 
and  to-day  something  more  radical,  something 
determined,  must  be  resorted  to.  Every  man  and 
every  woman  who  lives  in  polygamy,  or  who  advo- 
cates it,  and  aids  and  abets  the  commission  of  the 
offense,  should  be  disfranchised.  And  don't  let's 
have  any  kid-glove  proceedings  to  arrive  at  these 
facts.  Let  the  bill  be  so  drafted  that  when  it  be- 
comes a  law  it  will  1  >e  effective.  Let  the  law  be  that 
when  a  man  or  woman  is  challenged  at  the  polls  for 
being  a  polygamist,  he  himself  must  be  sworn  and 
examined  by  his  neighbors;  that  his  alleged  plural 
wives  and  his  lawful  wife  may  be  called  and 
examined  under  oath,  either  privately  or  publicly, 
as  demanded  by  the  challenger. 

No  one  need  be  afraid  of  the  consequences.  There 
are  a  hundred  thousand  men,  women,  and  children 
in  Utah  who  would  hail  the  day  when  such  a  Jaw 
would  become  operative.  The  Utah  Legislature 
would  not  have,  as  it  generally  does,  ninety-five 
per  cent  of  its  members  polygamists,  and  be  run  by 
John  Taylor  and  the  Mormon  leaders  in  the  interest 
of  the  Mormon  church.  Instead  of  this,  the  young 
men  of  Utah,  who  are  heartily  sick  of  the  institu- 
tion, would  come  to  the  fiont,  and  we  should  see  a 


356  WOMEN  OF  MOHMOXISM. 

law-abiding  people  where  now  we  see  a  law-defy- 
ing people.  Why,  think  of  it!  to-day  in  Utah 
there  is  a  premium  awarded  to  those  who  will  defy 
and  violate  the  laws.  The  polygamist  is  rewarded 
by  the  best  and  most  honorable  positions.  This  law 
would  change;  this,  and  the  men  who  obey  the  law 
would  be  rewarded,  and  so  it  should  be;  for  I  tell 
you,  the  man  in  Utah  who  resists  the  demands  of 
these  Mormon  leaders,  and  dares  to  "  come  out  from 
among  them  "  and  be  a  law-abiding  American  citi- 
zen, is  deserving  of  a  reward,  whereas  to-day  he 
receives  just  the  contrary.  He  abandons  every 
hope,  and  shuts  out  every  chance  of  ever  obtaining 
official  position,  and  subjects  himself  to  the  vilest 
kind  of  abuse.  The  passage  of  this  law  would 
revolutionize  the  politics  of  Utah,  and  this  alone  would 
be  a  power  in  this  land  which  would  help  materially 
to  solve  the  vexed  question. 

But  more  than  this,  it  would  be  a  continual 
punishment  inflicted  upon  the  men  ami  women  who 
violate  the  law.  There  would  be  no  escape,  but  like 
the  black  night  of  despair  it  would  hover  about 
them,  and  polygamy  would  be  a  mark  upon  whom- 
soever dared  to  violate  the  law,  like  the  terrible 
mark  that  was  set  upon  Cain.  And  soon  they  who 
wear  the  mark  would  be  driven  out,  not  by  force 
of  arms,  but  by  the  continual  consciousness  of  being 
aliens  and  enemies  to  the  country  and  its  laws. 

The  passage  of  such  a.  law  would  be  acting  dis- 
creetly, and  tht'  consequences  would  be  as  I  have 
predicted,  the  bishop  to  the  contrary,  notwithstand- 
ing. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

Tips  xtf  a  Jfalqmm 

BY  HON.  SCHUYLER  COLFAX* 

Mormon  Defiance. -Juries—Female  Suffrage—Right  of  Dower 
-Abolish  the  Legislature— Heed  the  Gentiles— The   Golden 

Time. 

|<  I  one  can  shut  his  eyes  now  to  the  insolent 
"  defiance   our    Mormon  Turks   have   flung 
•  into  the  face  of  the  nation.     The  worn-out 
subterfuge  of  years  past,  that  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  had  not  affirmed  the 
constitutionality  of  the  Congressional  pro- 
hibition of  polygamy,  is  cast  aside,  since  their  unani- 
mous decision,  as  of  no  further  avail.     And  now  the 
Mormons  boldly  force  the  issue.     Their  many-wived 
President,  John  Taylor,  has  on  the  eve  of  'the   re- 
assembling of  Congress,  added  a  wealthy  widow  to 
Ins  harem.     Their  many-wived  Congressional  Dele- 
gate, whose  polygamous  family  has  been  support,, 1 
for  many  years   out   of   the  people's  taxes   by  his 

•This  chapter  was  published  in  the  Chicago  Advance  Dec  32 
1831,  under  the  title  «  The  Mokmon  Defiance  to  the  Nwion 
Suggestions  ,s  to  How  it  Should  be  Met.  The  present  head- 
ing is  selected  by  the  Publisher. 

(357) 


358  WOMEN   OF  MOBMONISM. 

salary  from  the  National  Treasury,  no  longer  uses 
words  of  evasion,  nor  suggests  any  policy  of  com- 
promise or  postponement.  But  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  oxer  his  own  signature,  he  boldly 
avows  his  contempt  of  the  national  law,  both  as  to 
his  polygamous  family  and  as  to  his  preaching 
against  it  to  his  followers. 

Thus  Mormonism  insultingly  asks  the  nation, 
"  What  will  you  do  about  it?  " 

If  we  are  not  the  most  pusillanimous  of  peoples,  if 
we  are  worthy  the  blood  so  freely  shed,  first  to 
establish  and  finally  to  maintain  our  Government, 
our  law-makers  will  answer  this  bold  Mormon 
challenge  by  replying  that  "by  the  Eternal,"  who 
turned  our  weakness  into  strength,  and  "gave  to  us 
the  nation  whose  protecting  flag  floats  over  these 
inerates,  the  laws  of  the  land  shall  be  obeyed  in 
Utah  as  in  Dakota,  by  Mormons  as  by  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  Jews,  and  Gentiles.  The  Chief  Magis- 
trate of  whom  the  cruel  bullet  of  the  assassin  so  re- 
cently robbed  us, — "inspired,"  as  the  murderer  claims, 
like  the  Mormons,  by  "a  divine  revelation"! — 
pointed  the  path  of  duly  to  the  American  people  in 
his  Inaugural,  in  which  he  declared  it  "a  reproach 
to  the  Government  that,  in  our  most  populous  Terri- 
tory, the  authority  of  Congress  is  set  at  naught," 
and  demanded  that  Congress  should  prohibit  within 
its  jurisdiction,  all  criminal  practices,  especially  that 
class  which  destroys  family  relations,  and  endangers 
social  order.  His  successor,  who  has  so  won  the 
confidence  of  the  nation,  spoke  trumpet- tongued  in 


VIEWS  OF  A  STA  TESMAN.  359 

his  recent  message  to  the  nation,  of  the  duty  "to 
suppress  this  iniquity,  the  existing  statute  for  the 
punishment  of  this  odious  crime  so  revolting  to  the 
moral  and  religious  sense  of  Christendom,  having 
been  persistently  and  contemptuously  violated  ever 
since  its  enactment."  The  press  has  responded  to 
both  of  these  Presidential  proclamations  of  national 
duty  with  no  uncertain  sound.  The  people  are 
aroused  on  the  subject  as  never  before  in  the  past 
twenty  years.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
the  Republic  are  at  their  official  posts.  The  hour 
for  action  has  come ! 
What  shall  be  done  ? 

Whoever  has  studied  the  Mormon  problem  on  the 
ground  in  Utah,  and  through  their  sermons,  speeches, 
and  proclamations,  must  realize  that  no  halting, 
mincing,  temporizing,  tender-footed  policy  will  be  of 
the  slightest  effect.  Better  nothing  at  all  than  that. 
A  physician  might  as  well  treat  a  malignant,  grow- 
ing cancer  with  rose-water. 

If  this  polygamous  defiance  of  law,  which,  through 
the  mistaken  and  too-forbearing  policy  of  the  nation, 
has  been  growing  and  strengthening  for  over  a 
quarter  of  a  century  till  it  absolutely  controls  the 
home  legislation  of  "our  most  populous  Territory,' 
and  claims  the  balance  of  power  in  others  adjoining, 
is  to  be  stopped  at  all,  it  must  be  by  bold  and  fear- 
less legislation  in  the  spirit  of  President  Arthur's 
forcible  declaration  of  "  the  duty  of  arraying  ao-ainst 
the  barbarous  system  all  the  power  which,  under 
the  Constitution   and  laws,  can  be  wielded  for  its 


3G0  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

destruction."  Golden  words,  indeed!  The  nation 
must  strike  at  this  defiant  monster-evil  with  all  its 
might,  vigorously  and  emphatically,  to  show  the  of- 
fenders that  it  has  resolved  on  its  extirpation;  and 
so  effectively,  also,  that  what  it  destroys  in  a  Ter- 
ritory shall  never  be  able  to  be  revived  in  any  future 
State,  to  become  bastioned  against  attack  thereafter 
by  State  power  and  State  rights. 

To  achieve  this  result,  the  following  suggestions 
are  offered,  although  the  writer  is  conscious  that 
they  may  be  much  improved  and  strengthened  by 
our  law-makers: — 

1.  Juries  should  be  impaneled  by  the  U.  S.  Mar- 
shal of  Utah  exactly  as  in  other  Territories  and 
States,  from  law-abiding  citizens  only.  .  How  few 
of  the  readers  of  this  article  know  that  by  a  most 
unwise  law,  enacted  under  our  unwise  "  conciliat- 
ing" policy,  the  Mormon  officials  select,  in  Utah, 
half  the  names  from  whom  the  U.  S.  jurors  are  to 
be  drawn !  As  well  expect  to  put  down  gambling 
by  allowing  gamblers  to  select  half  the  juries  who 
are  to  try  them  for  their  offenses ! 

2.  Without  any  reference  to  the  general  question 
of  Female  Suffrage  in  communities  where  what 
President  Arthur  justly  calls  this  "barbarous  sys- 
tem "  does  not  prevail,  the  Mormons  of  Utah  should 
not  be  allowed  to  vote  their  submissive  harems  by 
the  wholesale  in  favor  of  polygamy,  at  either  Con- 
gressional or  Territorial  elections.  Nor  should  these 
surplus  wives  he  allowed  to  claim  land  as  "the  head 
of  a  family,"  to  help  enrich  their  husbands, — a  right 


VIEWS  OF  A  STATESMAN.  361 

denied  to  legal  wives  anywhere, — both  cases  holding 
out  a  premium,  in  power  and  in  possessions,  to  po- 
lygamy as  against  law-abiding  citizens. 

3.  The  light  of  dower,  which  has  been  abolished 
by  the  Utah  Legislature  (so  as  to  render  a  polyga- 
mous wife  slavishly  dependent  on  the  husband's  fa- 
vor for  any  share  of  his  property  after  his  death,  for 
herself  or  her  children),  should  be  re-enacted  by  na- 
tional legislation,  and  carefully  guarded  for  the  le- 
gal wife,  who,  in  polygamy,  is  not  the  favorite  as 
a  general  rule.  This  would  greatly  discourage  wo- 
men from  marrying  a  polygamist. 

4.  The  District  of  Columbia  had  for  years  a 
Territorial  Legislature.  Congress,  however,  by  the 
assent  of  both  parties,  believed  such  a  body  could  be 
dispensed  with  there,  and  it  is  now  governed  by 
three  Commissioners,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
direct  legislation  of  Congress.  Every  member  of 
the  Utah  Legislature  whose  per  diem  and  expenses 
are  paid  for  out  of  the  National  Treasury,  holds 
the  national  law  in  utter  contempt;  and  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  all  of  them  are  practical  polygamists. 
Why  not  try  there  exactly  the  same  experiment 
that  is  beino-  tested  now  in  the  District  of  Columbia; 
namely,  abolish  the  Legislature,  saving  all  its  ex- 
pense to  the  Treasury,  and  have  instead,  a  Board  of 
governing  Commissioners,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  National  Congress.  The  Constitutional  power 
is  the  same  in  both  regions.  The  need  for  its  exer- 
cise is  far  greater  West  than  East.  Only  in  this 
way  can  the  union  of  Church  and  State  in  the  Legis- 
lature be  effectively  abolished. 


3G2  WOMEN  OF  MOHMo.MSM. 

5.  Enact  that  as  Utali  is  confessedly  exceptional 
in  its  outspoken  determination  to  defy  the  national 
law,  no  citizens  thereof  shall  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the 
Land,  Patent,  or  Naturalization  laws,  unless  they 
declare  under  oath  that  they  have  not  violated  any 
law  of  the  land,  and  specifically  the  law  that  is  so 
contemptuously  trampled  under  foot  in  that  Terri- 
tory; and  this  should  also  be  subject  to  disproval 
by  competent  evidence.  The  exceptional  crime  and 
the  willful  criminals  should  be  banned  by  excep- 
tional law. 

6.  Heed  the  Gentile  appeal  from  Utah  that  the 
open  living  in  polygamy  should  be  the  crime  pun- 
ished rather  than  the  ceremony,  which  is  guarded 
by  secret  and  oath-bound  ceremonies  of  the  Endow- 
ment House,  which  the  leaders  refuse  to  testify 
about  in  court. 

7.  I  do  not  underrate  the  value  of  the  suggestion 
that  in  the  Territories  a  woman  married  to  a  big- 
amist should  be  a  legal  witness  against  him  on  his 
trial.  There  is  the  same  justice  in  this  as  in  allow- 
ing a  woman,  imposed  on  by  a  mock  marriage,  to 
testify.  But  this  would  be  more  effective  after, 
rather  than  before,  the  legislation  suggested  above. 

But  by  itself  this  seventh  proposition  would  be  of 
little  avail.  Beguiled,  induced,  almost  forced  by  the 
public  opinion  there,  and  by  the  increased  happiness 
in  heaven  promised  by  their  creed,  the  women  de- 
based by  this  relation,  must  needs  justify  and  eulo- 
gize it  thereafter,  or  else  proclaim  themselves  and 
their  children  dishonored. 


VIEWS  OF  A  STATESMAN.  363 

Notr  is  the  golden  hour  of  Opportunity  and  of 
Power  too.  Congress,  by  fearless,  direct  legislation, 
can  cleanse  the  Territory,  while  it  is  a  Territory, 
from  this  barbaric  institution  which  degrades  wo- 
man, defies  your  national  law,  scouts  at  your  na- 
tional judiciary,  mocks  at  your  national  authority, 
stains  your  national  escutcheon,  and  reviles  all  who 
lift  their  voices  against  it.  No  matter  what  may  be 
one's  politics — Republican,  Democrat,  or  Green- 
backer — Northern  or  Southern  by  residence,  East- 
ern or  Western — this  is  a  question  outside  of  party 
and,  indeed,  higher  than  party.  Strike  at  it  with 
bold,  vigorous  legislation;  with  prohibition  that  will 
prohibit;  and  when  the  leaders  realize  that  the  na- 
tion is  in  earnest,  and  has  stirred  itself  in  righteous 
wrath,  the  beginning  of  the  end  will  be  here,  and 
the  institution  will  tumble  into  ruin  and  disgrace. 

But  if  the  insulting  defiance  of  Mormondom  to 
the  nation  does  not  arouse  Congress  to  the  duty  of 
vindicating  its  insulted  laws,  do  not  ask  the  Gentiles 
there — a  faithful  few  among  the  faithless  found — to 
keep  up  the  unequal  contest.  They  have,  against 
all  the  ruling  influences  of  public  opinion  and  of 
numbers,  kept  the  flag  flying  there  on  which  is  in- 
scribed that  true  motto  of  a  Republic,  "Obedience 
to  the  Law."  They  have  petitioned  the  American 
people  for  effective  help  in  the  struggle.  They  have 
voted  and  argued,  written  and  spoken,  year  after 
year,  Congress  after  Congress;  but  all  in  vain. 
Mormonism  at  last  takes  the  aggressive.  For  de- 
cency's sake,  if    nothing   more,  the  Gentiles  plead 


3C4 


WOMEN   OF  Moil  MONISM. 


that  while  dungeons  open  for  bigamists  elsewhere, 
Congress  shall  not  honor  with  one  of  its  chairs  the 
publicly  avowed  representative  bigamist  of  Utah. 
If  this  ulcer  is  not  to  be  extirpated,  what  is  to  be- 
come of  the  heart  of  our  Republic  in  the  next  quar- 
ter of  a  century?  Rapidly  growing  in  numbers  by 
natural  causes  as  well  as  by  immigration  from 
abroad,  the  Mormons  will  control  the  other  Territo- 
ries around  them  by  their  great  resources  of  coloni- 
zation; and  Interior  America  will  be  given  up  to 
the  worst  phase  of  Asiatic  barbarism.  May  patriot- 
ism, and  firmness,  and  fearlessness,  before  it  becomes 
too  late,  avert  this  direful  consummation. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

BY    0.    G.    G.    PAINE,    A.   M. 

Threatening  Aspect. — Fast  Political  History. — Legislation  Power- 
less to  Reform.— Congregational  Churches, — Salt  Lake  Academy. 
New  West  Education  Commission. — Roman  Catholics. — -Episco- 
pal Church. — The  Hebrews. — The  Presbyterians. — Salt  Lake 
Collegiate  Institute. — The  Methodists. — The  Baptists. — The 
Press. 

%0  thoughtful  and  intelligent  reader  has  care- 
fully perused  the  preceding  pages  without; 
bring  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is 
a  great  and  growing  evil  in  our  country, 
which  not  only  threatens  the  peace  of 
every  home  in  the  land,  but  has  already  be- 
come a  source  of  great  anxiety  to  those  who  desire 
national  happiness  and  prosperity. 

The  supporters  of  this  great  evil  hold  the  exclu- 
sive control  in  some,  and  bid  fair  soon  to  have  it  in 
several,  of  those  large  Territories  in  the  New  West, 
which  should  soon  become  States.  And  unless  they 
are  speedily  checked  in  their  hitherto  victorious 
career,  they  will  ere  long  control  the  nation. 

Those  who  have  studied  the  Mormon  question 
only  superficially,  but  yet  think  they  know  all  about 

(365) 


366  WOMEN    OF   MOUMONISM. 

it,  may  say  these  are  the  words  of  a  croaker  and  a 
faise  prophet,  and  assert  that  it  is  utterly  impossible 
for  so  small  a  body  of  men  to  attain  such  power. 

But  surely  those  who  assert  this  must  have  for- 
gotten the  past  political  history  of  the  Mormon 
church.  They  do  not  remember  how  the  Mormons, 
while  located  at  Nauvoo,  and  when  only  a  few  hun- 
dred .in  number,  controlled  the  government  of  the 
great  State  of  Illinois,  deciding  who  should  hold  the 
offices  in  their  county,  who  should  represent  their 
district  in  Congress,  and  who  should  be  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  State. 

They  must  be  ignorant  qf  the  fact  that  for  more 
than  thirty  years  the  Mormon  priesthood  have  set 
at  defiance  the  national  authority,  and  have  killed 
or  driven  out  of  the  Territory  many  of  the  United 
States  governors,  judges,  and  other  officers  who 
were  sent  there  by  the  strong  (?)  arm  of  the  nation. 

They  have  not  read  how  the  Legislature  of  Idaho, 
when  the  Governor  sent  a  message  urging  some  ac- 
tion against  polygamy,  contemptuously  laid  it  upon 
the  table. 

These  facts  concerning  the  past  and  present  of 
Mormonism  show  how  skillful  it  is  to  use  its  strength, 
and  to  what  it  aims.  As  evenly  as  parties  are  bal- 
anced, it  nerds  to  have  the  control  of  but  two  or 
three  States  to  control  the  nation  ;  hence  the  national 
danger. 

The  farts  in  the  chapter  on  "The  Spread  of  Mor- 
monism  in  tin;  United  .''Hates  "  show  how  quietly  and 
insidiously  it  steals  into  our  homes,  and  robs  us  of 
our  loved  ones  before  we  even  suspeel  danger. 


THE  REDEEM  I NG  A(  /  ENCIES.  367 

When  these  facts  have  made  their  due  impression 
upon  the  mind  of  the  reader,  the  question  naturally 
springs  to  the  lips  of  every  one,'-  What  can  we  do? " 
The  very  asking  of  the  question  shows  that  all 
instinctively  feel  that  something  ought  to  be  done  ; 
and  that  feeling  has  a  good  and  right  foundation. 
Something  ought  to  be  done,  and  that  speedily. 

The  preceding  papers  by  Judge  Van  Zile  show 
that  much  radical  legislation  is  needed, — legislation 
which  will  place  the  power  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
will  see  that  just  laws  are  made  and  executed. 

But  legislation  is  not  the  only  thing  that  is  needed. 
Says  Rev.  Chas.  R.  Bliss,  Secretary  of  the  New 
West  Education  Commission,  in  a  recent  letter  to 
the  Advance : — 

"  The  question  at  issue  is  not  one  of  justice,  but  one 
of  discretion ;  not  whether  it  is  right  to  uproot  Mor- 
monism  by  law,  but  whether  it  can  be  done  by  law. 
What  is  Mormonism?  It  is  not  polygamy,  but 
something  deeper,  more  subtle,  more  menacing. 
Polygamy  is  only  a  branch  of  Mormonism,  not  its 
root.  Were  it  destroyed,  the  system,  with  its 
organized  disloyalty,  its  hostile  purpose,  and  its 
social  corruption,  would  be  but  slightly  impaired. 
Mormonism  is  a  firmly-knit  social  and  religious 
organization,  bound  together  by  memories  of  common 
suffering  and  ties  of  common  interest,  interlinked 
by  a  thousand  cunning  devices,  administered  by 
numerous  eagle-eyed,  secret  officers,  and  so  managed 
as  to  place  in  a  few  hands  large  revenues  and  the 
reins   of   a  subtle  and  pervasive  power.     It  is  an 


368  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

organization  so  compact  and  vigorous  that  it  can 
and  does  retain  and  increase  its  power,  found  peoples, 
and  govern  new  towns,  send  its  outposts  far  into 
surrounding  Territories,  and  through  them  control 
the  ballot  and  shape  political  action  hundreds  of 
miles  from  Salt  Lake  City. 

"  It  is  folly  to  expect  that  such  an  organization  will 
yield  to  the  ordinary  forces  of  civilization,  and  die 
of  itself.  For  at  least  fifteen  years  it  has  been 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  ordinary  forces  of 
civilization,  and  yet  to-day  it  is  stronger  in  numbers, 
confidence,  and  inherent  energy  than  it  ever  was  1  m  - 
fore.  Polygamy,  save  in  a  few  centers  where 
Gentile  influence  is  marked,  is  increasing1.  Said  a 
prominent  apostle  in  a  country  town  to"  the  writer 
last  October,  'There  have  been  more  polygamous 
marriages  in  this  community  in  the  last  eighteen 
months  than  for  ten  years  before;  even  very  young 
men  and  women  are  being  urged  into  it.'  Temples 
are  being  pushed  to  completion,  sermons  are  us  confi- 
dent, ceremonies  are  as  carefully  <  >1  >served,  conferences 
as  numerously  attended,  as  ever.  Certainly,  if  the 
ordinary  forces  of  civilization  are  strong  enough  to 
destroy  it,  some  impression  ought  to  be  visible. 
There  are  reasons  for  the  failure,  and  these  are  in 
the  organization  itself.  It  has  vitality.  It  inures  to 
the  pecuniary  advantages  of  many.  It  is  a  power- 
ful political  engine.  It  appeals  to  certain  lower 
instincts,  which  makes  it  welcome  to  the  mass  of  its 
adherents.  It  finds  in  the  ignorance  of  its  dupes  full 
opportunity   to   enforce     its    monstrous     claims    t<> 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  369 

divine  inspiration.  It  appeals  to  an  honest,  though 
mistaken,  religious  feeling.  It  inflames  devotion  by 
pointing  to  martyrdoms  and  hurling  epithets  of 
scorn  at  the  National  Government,  which  it  denounces 
as  cruel  and  vindictive.  To  call  such  an  organiza- 
tion a  'mere  local  nuisance'  is  easy;  but  to  say 
that,  being  such,  it  will  yield  to  the  ordinary  forces 
of  civilization,  and  die  out,  is  to  betray  a  lamentable 
ignorance  of  what  it  is." 

No  great  question  of  morals  can  be  settled  simply 
by  law.  One  of  the  Representatives  to  Congress  has 
recently  stated  that  the  great  difficulty  in  enforcing 
laws  against  polygamy  is  that  the  sentiment  of  the 
people  is  against  the  laws. 

That  is  no  excuse  for  not  making  laws  in  such  a 
form  as  to  remove  the  difficulties  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  way  of  their  execution,  and  this  is  what  the 
Gentiles  have  been  urging  for  years. 

Let  Congress  pass  such  laws  as  the  officers  of  the 
government  in  Utah  have  long  been  asking  for; 
let  President  Taylor,  Delegate  Cannon,  and  a  few 
of  the  other  leaders  of  the  Mormon  church  be  sent  to 
the  penitentiary  for  a  term  of  years,  and  it  will  have 
a  salutary  effect  in  inspiring  respect  for  national 
authority. 

Still  the  difficulty  mentioned  of  a  wrong  public 
sentiment  is  not  wholly  removed.  How  shall  this  be 
remedied?— By  the  same  means  that  are  employed  to 
correct  wrong  public  sentiment  on  other  moral  ques- 
tions. 

This  sentiment  springs  from  ignorance  or  errone- 
24 


870  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

ons  teaching,  or  both.  Ignorance  must  be  supplanted 
by  knowledge,  and  erroneous  instruction  counter- 
acted by  that  which  is  correct  and  wholesome. 

There  are  three  powerful  engines  for  doing  this 
work  everywhere, — the  school,  the  church,  and  the 
press.  When  these  three  work  together,  hand  in 
hand,  their  success  is  certain. 

Let  us  not  despair,  then.  Legal  suasion,  backed 
by  the  strong  arm  of  the  nation  in  concert  with 
moral  suasion,  which  is  sustained  by  the  prayers, 
sympathies,  and  contributions  of  the  Christians  of 
every  faith,  will  secure  the  right,  and  that  must  pre- 
vail. 

In  mentioning  the  three  moral  agencies,  the  school 
was  purposely  placed  first;  because  from  the  peculiai 
exigencies  of  the  case,  this  must  be  the  pioneer. 

To  understand  the  reason  for  this,  we  must  briefly 
consider  the  condition  and  teachings  of  the  Mormon 
schools  and  churches. 

It  has  been  stated  in  the  preceding  pages,  that  the 
emigrants  are  generally  from  the  ignorant  and 
uneducated  classes  of  Europe,  and  they  have  no 
opportunities  for  acquiring  an  education  after  they 
arrive,  as  many  of  the  adult  foreigners  do  who  settle 
iu  <  ither  sections.  Neither  have  tiny  the  same  stimu- 
lus, even  if  they  had  the  opportunity. 

Then  the  schools  are  of  the  poorest  kind.  The 
teachers  themselves  are  poorly  prepared  for  their 
work.  The  highest  Mormon  school  for  training 
teachers  and  professional  men  is  the  Deseret  Univer- 
sity, located   a1   Salt  Lake,  and  it  would  compare 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  371 

unfavorably  with  the  high  schools  of  other  sections. 
The  school-houses  are  of  the  poorest  kind,  and  are 
not  furnished  with  the  modern  appliances  for  aiding 
the  teacher  in  his  work. 

Everything-  about  them  is  unattractive  and 
repulsive.  Moreover,  none  of  these  schools  are  free; 
but  while  a  part  of  the  support  is  raised  by  taxation, 
all  the  pupils  arc  required  to  pay  tuition.  This,  in 
a  community  where  the  people  are  so  poor  that  the 
children  never  see  a  penny,  but  if  they  want  a  slate 
pencil,  take  an  egg  to  the  store  to  pay  for  it,  helps 
to  keep  the  children  away. 

John  Taylor,  the  president  of  the  Mormon  church, 
is  the  superintendent  of  the  schools  in  the  Territory. 
Consequently,  they  are  all  managed  in  the  interest 
of  the  church,  and  the  children  are  all  instructed  in 
the  dogmas  of  Mormonism. 

The  sermons  in  the  churches  are  not  such  as  to 
educate  and  awaken  thought,  but  are  largely 
denunciations  of  the  national  Government  and  of  the 
Gentiles,  arguments  in  favor  of  polygamy,  and 
exhortations  to  obey  the  peculiar  instructions  of  the 
priesthood.  As  shown  by  competent  testimony, 
they  are  often  low  and  obscene ;  and  yet  to  this  peo- 
ple, living  in  the  very  center  of  our  own  land,  a 
part  of  our  very  nation,  no  effort  was  made  to  carry 
the  gospel  with  its  civilizing  influences  until  the 
year  1865,  and  practically  almost  nothing  was  done 
until  within  the  last  decade! 


372  WOMEN   OF  MOUMONISM. 

CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH. 

Rev.  Norman  McLeod,  Chaplain  of  California 
Volunteers  stationed  at  Camp  Douglas,  was  the 
first  to  make  an  effort  for  the  Christianization  of 
this  people.  Jan.  22,  1865,  he  preached  the  first 
evangelical  sermon  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  soon 
after  organized  the  Congregational  Church  and 
Society. 

With  the  aid  of  the  Young  Men's  Literary  Asso- 
ciation, funds  were  raised  for  the  purchase  of  a  lot, 
and  the  erection  of  a  building,  rightly  named  "  Inde- 
pendence Hall,"  which  served  for  church  services, 
Sunday-school,  lectures,  etc.  This  Hall  has  served 
as  the  rallying  place  for  the  Gentiles  from  that  time, 
and  has  been  used  as  a  starting  point  by  several 
other  denominations,  as  they  have  successively 
engaged  in  Christian  work  here.  A  full  history  of 
this  Hall  is  in  the  Appendix. 

Rev.  Mr.  McLeod  organized  a  Sabbath-school  of 
which  Dr.  J.  K.  Robinson  was  superintendent.  He 
also  delivered  lectures  upon  polygamy  which  aroused 
a  great  deal  of  interest  and  controversy,  and  excited 
the  anger  of  the  Mormons. 

In  1866  he  went  East  to  raise  funds  to  build  a 
church,  and  while  there  was  called  before  a  com- 
mittee of  Congress  to  testify  in  regard  to  the  work- 
ings of  polygamy.  His  testimony  so  increased  the 
indignation  of  the  Mormons  that  they  threatened  his 
life  if  he  returned  to  the  Territory.  Meanwhile,  Dr. 
Robinson,    his    Sunday-school    superintendent,    had 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  373 

been  shot  clown  in  the  street  in  cold  blood,  and  Mr. 
McLeod's  friends  in  the  Territory  advised  him  not  to 
return,  so  the  enterprise  was  abandoned  for  a  time. 

In  1872  he  returned  for  a  few  months.  In 
the  fall  of  1873  Bev.  Walter  M.  Barrows  was 
sent  by  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  to 
prosecute  the  enterprise  anew.  He  remained  until 
the  summer  of  1881,  when  he  was  called  to  New 
York  to  become  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society.  His  church 
had  then  increased  till  its  membership  exceeded  150. 

A  Congregational  church  has  also  been  organized 
at  Park  City,  and  a  missionary  stationed  at  Bounti- 
ful, and  several  others  will  soon  be  sent  into  the 
Territory. 

SALT   LAKE  ACADEMY. 

Mr.  Barrows,  noting  the  success  of  the  few  schools 
already  established  in  the  Territory  under  Christian 
auspices,  and  the  similarity  between  the  people  here 
and  in  heathen  lands,  saw  that  the  work  must  be 
carried  on  here  in  the  same  way  as  by  foreign 
missionaries, — the  church  and  the  school  must  go 
together,  hand  in  hand,  and  in  many  cases  the 
school  must  be  the  forerunner  and  prepare  the  way 
for  the  church.  The  teacher  must  be  a  Christian 
missionary,  and  carry  the  Gospel. 

To  do  this,  he  saw  the  need  of  Christian  teachers 
trained  on  the  ground,  and  directed  his  energies  to 
the  establishment  of  an  unsectarian  Christian  school 
which  should  eventually  grow  into  a  college.     As  a 


374  WOMEN  OF  Molt  MONISM. 

result  of  his  labors,  Salt  Lake  Academy  was  incor- 
porated in  the  summer  of  1878,  under  the  laws  of 
Utah.  Prof.  Edward  Benner,  formerly  connected 
with  Drury  College,  Mo.,  was  appointed  principal. 
The  Academy  opened  in  September,  1878,  with  two 
teachers.  It  is  now  in  its  fourth  year  of  successful 
work,  and  has  two  hundred  and  twenty  pupils.  The 
trustees  are  erecting  a  fine  edifice  to  cost  $30,000. 
It  greatly  needs  endowment  to  enable  it  to  carry 
on  its  work  more  successfully. 

THE   NEW   WEST  EDUCATION   COMMISSION. 

The  necessity  of  establishing  Christian  schools  in 
all  parts  of  Mormondom  was  early  seen  and  forcibly 
urged  by  Rev.  Mr.  Barrows  in  the  Home  Missionary, 
December,  1878.  The  writer  of  this  chapter  laid  the 
subject  lief  ore  the  assembled  Congregational  pastors 
of  Chicago  in  April  1879,  and  delivered  addresses  in 
many  of  the  larger  cities  of  the  interior.  The  Congre- 
gational Association  of  Illinois,  June,  1879,  appointed 
a  committee  to  confer  with  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society,  and  urged  immediate  action. 
During  the  same  season,  President  Tennev  of  Colo- 
rado  College  secured  the  appointment  of  a  Chris- 
tian Commission.  But  upon  further  consideration  a 
new  organization  was  found  necessary,  and  the  New 
West  Education  Commission  was  incorporated  under 
the  laws  of  Illinois,  November  3,.  1879,  with  head- 
quarters in  Chicago.  Its  purpose,  as  defined  in  its 
charter,  is:  "  The  promotion  of  Christian  civilization 
in  Utah  and  adjacent  States  and  Territories,  by  the 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  375 

education  of  children  and  youth  under  Christian 
teachers,  and  also  by  the  use  of  such  kindred  agencies 
as  may  at  any  time  be  deemed  desirable."  Rev.  F. 
A.  Noble,  D.  D.,  of  Chicago,  is  the  president,  and 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Bliss  is  the  secretary  and  superin- 
tendent of  its  work-. 

This  Commission  has  assumed  the  care  of  the 
academies  at  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  and  at  Santa  Fe  and 
Albuquerque,  Mew  Mexico,  which  had  already  been 
established  under  the  auspices  of  Colorado  College. 
It  has  opened  two  others  at  Las  Vegas,  New 
Mexico,  and  Trinidad,  Colorado.  The  Commission 
has  also  opened  flourishing  primary  schools  at  Salt 
Lake  City,  Farmington,  Hooper,  Stockton,  Bngham, 
Lehi,  Sandy,  Bountiful,  Coalville,  and  Weber;  so 
that  it  now  has  under  its  care  five  academies  with 
nearly  six  hundred  pupils,  and  ten  primary  schools 
with  about  five  hundred  pupils,  and  this  number  is 
bring  increased  as  fast  as  the  means  are  furnished. 
Their  expenditures  for  the  year  ending  September 
1,  1882,  are  about  $41,000. 

The  following  statement  in  regard  to  one  of  these 

schools  will  illustrate  their  working  and  influence: 

In  October,  1880,  Miss  Lydia  M.  Tichenor  of 
Chicago,  a  graduate  of  the  Cook  County  Normal 
School,  who  after  several  years  of  successful  experi- 
ence as  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools,  had  been 
laboring  as  church  missionary  of  the  Lincoln  Park 
Congregational  church,  was  sent  by  the  Commission 
to  open  a  school  at  Hooper,  a  Mormon  town  about 
thirteen  miles  southwest  of  Ogden. 


376  WOMEN   OF  MORMON ISM. 

She  found  here  no  Christian  helper.  Possessed 
in  an  eminent  degree  of  tact  and  the  power  to 
influence  others,  and  fired  with  the  missionary  spirit, 
she  opened  her  school  with  seventeen  pupils  from  six 
to  eighteen  years  of  age.  None  could  write  without 
a  copy,  or  read  writing.  She  had  no  chair,  table,  hell, 
clock,  map,  chart,  text-books,  chalk,  or  anything  else 
for  teacher's  use,  and  scarcely  an  article  of  the  kind 
needful  for  school  purposes  could  be  found  in  the 
place.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  nearly  eighty 
pupils  were  enrolled. 

Soon  after  opening  the  day-school  she  organized  a 
Sunday-school  which  she  'was  obliged  to  teach 
entirely  herself  for  a  time.  (This  school  was 
attended  by  nearly  all  her  day  scholars  and  by  many 
others.)  She  skillfully  employed  some  of  the  young 
men  as  clerk,  etc.,  and  soon  a  number  of  the  Mor- 
mon young  men  began  to  come  in.  As  their  attend- 
ance was  forbidden  by  the  bishop,  they  obeyed  him 
by  stopping  in  the  outer  room  where,  however, 
they  could  hear  all  that  was  said. 

At  the  request  of  the  young  people  she  began  in 
the  spring  to  hold  religious  service  Sabbath  evenings, 
at  which  she  had  very  large  and  attentive  congrega- 
tions. Her  work  was  conducted  so  wisely  and  well 
that  even  the  Mormon  bishop  acknowledged  in  a  con- 
ference of  Mormon  officials  that  the  influence  of  her 
school  was  good. 

Miss  Tichenor  has  for  some  months  been  success- 
fully employed  by  the  Commission  in  addressing  the 
Eastern  churches  and  raising  funds  for  their  work. 
Meanwhile  her  school  work  goes  forward. 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  377 

The  Commission  is  buying  places  for  school  pur- 
poses  costing  from  $500  to  $1500  each,  which  are 
also  used  by  the  home  missionary  who  follows  in 
the  wake  of  the  teacher.  The  secretary,  Rev. 
Charles  R.  Bliss,  writes:  "It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  the  New  Academy  building  is  on  the  site  taken  by 
the  Mormon  bishop  Wooley.  His  residence  was  upon 
it,  and  in  the  very  parlors  he  furnished  and  occupied 
we  have  a  primary  school,  and  I  heard  the  little 
children  sinmmj  Christian  sono-s  where  he  concocted 
plans  for  getting  what  he  could  out  of  Mormon 
dupes.  There  is  poetic  justice  and  a  feeling  of 
compensation  in  Divine  Providence." 

THE   ROMAN  CATHOLICS. 

The  second  attempt  to  establish  a  mission  in  Utah 
was  made  by  Rev.  E.  Kelly,  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest,  in  the  summer  of  1866.  Although  he  spent 
some  time  in  Salt  Lake,  and  raised  money  with 
which  to  purchase  a  lot,  he  did  not  succeed  in  found- 
ing a  church. 

In  the  spring  of  1871,  Rev.  P.  Walsh  was  appointed 
pastor  of  the  Territory,  and  raised  funds  with  which 
he  erected  a  handsome  church. 

His  successor,  Rev.  L.  Scanlan,  has  erected 
churches  in  Ogden  and  Silver  Reef,  and  opened 
schools  at  each  of  the  three  cities;  also  the  Hospital 
of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Salt  Lake,  and  St.  John's  Hospi- 
tal at  Silver  Reef. 

At  the  Hospital  of  the  Holy  Cross,  which  was 
opened  in  1876,  three  physicians  are  in  charge;  over 


378  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

2000    patients    are   treated    annually,    and    many 
surgical  operations  have  been  successfully  performed. 

THE   PROTESTANT   EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

The  third  missionary  effort  in  the  Territory  was 
inaugurated  by  Right  Rev.  Daniel  S.  Tuttle,  bishop 
of  the  Diocese  in  which  Utah  was  included.  He  sent 
Rev.  Geo.  W.  Foote  and  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Haskins 
to  Salt  Lake  City  in  May  1867.  They  found  but 
two  communicants  of  their  own  faith,  and  only 
twenty  of  all  Christian  denominations.  They  held 
their  services  in  Independence  Hall,  and  organized  a 
Sunday-school  which  grew  and  flourished  in 
spite  of  the  Mormon  priesthood. 

St.  Mark's  Grammar  School,  the  first  Gentile 
school  in  Utah,  was  opened  in  July  1867,  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Haskins,  with  only  sixteen  pupils;  but  in 
January,  1882,  it  had  four  hundred  and  eighty.  A 
tuition  fee  was  charged,  but  those  unable  to  pay 
were  admitted  free.  Schools  have  also  been  estab- 
lished under  the  auspices  of  the  Episcopal  church 
at  Ogden,  Logan,  and  Plain  City. 

In  1871  they  erected  a  church  edifice  hi  Salt  Lake 
City,  at  a  cost  of  $45,000.  A  fine  school  edifice  has 
also  been  erected,  capable  of  accommodating  nearly 
five  hundred  pupils.  In  1881  Rowland  Hall  was 
started  as  a  boarding  school  for  girls. 

Bishop  Tuttle  removed  to  Salt  Lake  City  in  July, 
1867,  and  has  resided  there  since.  The  statistics  of 
the  Episcopal  church  in  Utah,  as  taken  from  his  last 
annual  report,  August  1,  1881,  are  as  follows: — 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  379 


Clergymen  in  the  Territory, 
Churches  in  the  Territory, 
School-houses  in  the  Territ.  >ry 
Communicants, 
Sunday-school  Teachers, 
Sunday-school  Scholars, 
Parish-school  Teachers,  . 
Parish-school  Scholars,  . 
Value  of  Church  Property, 
Offerings  for  Church  Purposes, 


G 

4 

4 

359 

48 

710 

21 

711 

$1(31,400 

18,830 

St.  Mark's  Hospital  was  started  in  1872,  and  was 
the  first  ever  opened  in  Utah.  Rev.  R.  M.  Kirby 
has  been  the  superintendent  of  this  from  the  first, 
with  an  ample  corps  of  physicians;  but  has  recently 
resigned.  From  three  hundred  to  four  hundred 
patients  are  treated  in  it  yearly.  All  miners  in 
the  Territory  can  enjoy  its  benefits  by  paying  into 
the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  one  dollar  'per  month, 
which  secures  them  board,  medical  attendance,  and 
treatment  when  needed. 


THE   HEBREWS. 

The  Hebrew  congregation  numbers  one  hundred 
members.  They  have  two  benevolent  societies  which 
have  disbursed  over  $2300  to  the  poor  in  a  single  year. 

Utah  is  said  to  be  the  only  place  in  the  world 
where  the  Jew  prides  himself  on  being  a  Gentile. 
These  Jewish  citizens  are  liberal  patrons  of  the  Gen- 
tile schools,  and  have  ever  been  firm  supporters  of 
the  Government,  and  friends  of  every  measure 
tending  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  Terri- 
tory. 


380 


WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 


METHODISM    IN    UTAH. 


May  8,  1870,  Rev.  G.  M.  Peirce,  the  first  Method- 
ist preacher  appointed  to  labor  in  Utah,  arrived 
with  his  family  at  Salt  Lake  City  and  began  the 
work  of  planting  Methodism  in  Mormon  soil.     He 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Salt  Lake. 

hired  an  unfinished  hay-loft  over  a  livery-stable  and 
fitted  it  up  for  church  services.  October  16,  1871, 
ground  was  broken  for  the  present  church  edifice 
which  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  $50,000,  and  in- 
cludes auditorium  and  rooms  for  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Seminary.  The  church  was  dedicated  the  last  of 
December,  1871,  although  only  one  story  was  finished, 
and  was  the  first  regular  church  dedicated  in  Utah. 


THE  REDEEM  TNG  AGENCIES.  381 

The  Methodists  now  have  eight  churches,  with  one 
hundred  and  eighty-nine  members.  They  have  seven 
church  buildings  and  three  parsonages,  valued  at 
about  $G3,000.  They  have  eight  Sunday-schools, 
with  about  seventy-two  officers  and  teachers,  and 
six  hundred  and  thirty -five  scholars.  Their  total 
contributions  for  benevolence,  and  incidental  ex- 
penses, for  the  past  year  amounted  to  $3,433.89. 

They  established  their  first  day-school  September 
20,  1870,  at  Salt  Lake  City,  which  has  been  carried 
on  with  varied  success,  but  now  seems  to  be  well 
established  under  the  care  of  Rev.  T.  B.  Hilton,  A. 
M.  They  have  also  opened  schools  at  Ogden,  Toelle, 
Provo,  and  Beaver.  Rev.  G.  M.  Peirce  is  Superin- 
tendent of  Missions,  and  Rev.  L.  A.  Rudisill  Corre- 
sponding Secretary, — both  located  at  Salt  Lake  City. 
There  are  now  eleven  clergymen  and  thirteen  teach- 
ers employed  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in 
carrying  on  its  mission  work  in  Utah. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

The  Presbyterians  commenced  their  work  in  Utah 
in  1870,  at  Corinne,  a  Gentile  town  on  the  Central 
Pacific  railroad. 

Rev.  J.  Welch  commenced  work  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  hi  October,  1871,  and  organized  a  church  of 
twelve  members  in  November  following. 

In  1874  a  church  edifice  was  erected,  the  house 
and  lot  costing  about  $30,000.  The  church  now 
has  ninety-seven  members,  and  Rev.  Robert  G.  Mc- 
Neice  is  the  successful  pastor. 


382  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

In  February,  1875,  Rev.  D.  J.  McMillan,  a  Presby- 
terian clergyman  from  Southern  Illinois,  who  was 
spending  the  winter  in  Utah  for  his  health,  went 
into  the  Mormon  town  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  where  there 
was  not  a  single  Gentile  family,  and  bought  an 
unfinished  building  that  had  been  erected  for  a 
dancehouse,  and  fitted  it  up  for  a  school-room  and  a 
church.  This  was  the  first  school  opened  by  the 
Presbyterians  in  the  Territory,  and  the  first  one  in 
an  exclusive  Mormon  community.  Although  at  the 
peril  of  his  life,*  he  remained  at  his  post,  and  has 
pushed  forward  the  work  in  Central  and  Southern 
Utah,  until  now  the  Presbyterians  have  more  schools 
and  churches  than  any  other  denomination  in  the 
Territory.  He  is  now  the  General  Superintendent 
of  Missions. 

April  12, 1875,  Prof.  J.  M.  Coynerof  Indianapolis, 
Indiana,  opened  the  Salt  Lake  Collegiate  Institute 
in  the  basement  of  the  newly  erected  Presbyterian 
church. 

Opening  with  only  thirty  pupils,  it  has  increased 
till  at  the  present  time  it  has  two  hundred  enrolled. 

It  has  a  fine  two-story  building  valued  at  Si 8, 000, 
and  capable  of  accommodating  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  pupils,  with  a  fully  equipped  boarding 
department  which  can  accommodate  forty  pupils 
and  teachers.  Over  six  hundred  pupils  have  been 
in  attendance  since  its  organization, 

The  Presbyterians  have  at  the  present  time 
thirty-three  schools,  forty -six  teachers,  ten  churches, 

*Sue  Appendix,  page  414. 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  383 

seventeen  ministers,  and  thirty-one  Sunday-schools, 
and  have  about  two  thousand  children,  chiefly  of 
Mormon  parentage,  under  their  instruction.  These 
schools  and  churches  are  scattered  throughout  the 
whole  Territory. 

THE  BAPTISTS 

The  Baptists  organized  their  first  church  in  Utah, 
May  20,  1881,  with  thirteen  members,  which 
membership  has  been  nearly  doubled.  They  are 
planning  to  erect  a  $5000  church  during  1882.  Rev. 
Richard  Hartley  is  the  pastor,  and  Rev.  Dwight 
Spencer  is  also  laboring  in  the  Territory  as  a 
missionary.  They  hope  to  open  a  day-school  during 
this  year. 

The  Mormon  leaders  are  of  course  very  much 
opposed  to  these  Christian  schools,  and  forbid  the 
people  to  patronize  them,  and  often  excommunicate 
them  from  the  church  if  they  persist  in  sending 
their  children.  But  the  more  intelligent  and  liberal 
of  the  Mormons,  as  they  come  in  contact  with  the 
Gentiles,  see  the  need  of  having  their  children  edu- 
cated, and  in  many  cases  disregard  the  orders  and 
anathemas  of  the  church  authorities. 

Thus  the  schools  serve  as  an  entering  wedge  to 
help  throw  off  the  authority  of  the  bishops  and 
liberate  the  people  from  the  slavery  under  winch 
they  have  so  long  labored. 

Many  of  the  Mormons  are  ready  to  contribute  to 
the  support  of  the  schools.  When  the  school  was 
opened  in  Park  City,  one  Mormon  contributed  £50; 


384  WOMEN   OF  M0RM0NI8M. 

but  as  he  had  thirty-nine  children  it  was  said  he 
could  well  afford  to  do  so.  A  Mormon  who  has 
several  wives  recently  offered  two  stone  buildings  to 
the  New  West  Education  Commission,  rent  free,  and 
is  willing  to  deed  it  to  them  outright  for  educational 
purposes. 

Very  few  of  the  churches  could  have  been  estab- 
lished had  not  the  school  gone  first  and  prepared  the 
way.  Moreover  these  schools  are  exerting  a  great 
influence  upon  the  public  schools  sustained  by  the 
Mormons;  as  they  see  the  necessity  of  improving 
them  in  order  to  keep  their  children  from  being 
drawn  to  the  Christian  schools. 

There  is  now  an  open  door  all  through  Utah  for 
the  establishment  of  schools  as  fast  as  means  can  be 
obtained. 

One  of  the  most  useful  laws  Congress  could  pass 
would  be  one  which  should  authorize  the  President 
to  appoint  a  Superintendent  of  schools,  for  the  Terri- 
tory, and  invest  him  and  the  Governor  and  Secretary 
with  absolute  control  over  the  schools,  so  that  they 
should  not  be  used  to  instruct  children  in  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Mormon  church.  No  measure  could 
have  a  greater  influence  in  civilizing  this  people  and 
preparing  them  for  Statehood.  Indeed,  this  law 
should  be  made  general,  applying  to  all  the  Territories. 

The  Press  also  is  exerting  no  small  influence 
against  this  great  evil,  by  showing  up  its  iniquities 
and  absurdities. 

The  Salt  Lair  Tribune,  established  in  1870,  has 
done  and  is  doing  valuable  service.  It  has  a  large 
circulation  and  deserves  to  be  liberally  sustained. 


THE  REDEEMING  AGENCIES.  385 

The  Rock)/  Mountain  Christian  Advocate,  estab- 
lished in  1870,  and  edited  by  Rev.  G.  M.  Peirce  and 
Rev.  L.  A.  Rudisill,  is  the  organ  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  It  circulates  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  wherever  it  goes  it  utters  no  uncertain 
sound  in  regard  to  this  crying  sin. 

The  Anti-Polygamy  Standard,  started  in  1881, 
is  the  organ  of  the  Woman's  National  Anti-Polyg- 
amy Society.  It  has  had  great  influence  in  swelling 
and  directing  the  current  of  public  opinion  which  is 
to  result  in  the  utter  annihilation  of  this  foul  blot  on 
our  national  history. 

In  addition  to  the  influence  of  the  local  press,  the 
leading  journals  of  the  country  are  taking  up  the 
question  of  polygamy  in  Utah,  and  discussing  it  as 
a  living  issue,  which  demands  the  attention  of  states- 
men, and  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  all  who 
have  at  heart  the  welfare  of  our  nation.  This  can- 
not fail  to  have  a  powerful  influence  in  molding 
public  opinion,  and  will  prove  a  strong  auxiliary  in 
the  crusade  against  the  evil. 

The  mines,  too,  are  attaining  great  importance, 
and  by  bringing  a  large  number  of  Gentiles  into  the 
Territory  are  helping  on  all  the  other  "  redeeming 
agencies."  Indeed,  the  financial  aspect  of  the  ques- 
tion seems  destined  to  play  an  important  part  in 
the  solution  of  the  difficulty.  The  material  resources 
of  the  Territory,  aside  from  its  mineral  wealth,  are 
attracting  the  attention  of  prospective  settlers  from 
various  portions  of  Christendom.  The  effect  of  con- 
stant immigration  will  be  the  creation  of  a  healthy 
25 


386 


U'OMJ'JA    OF   MOIIMONISM. 


public  sentiment  within  the  Territory  itself,  which, 
unless  the  remedy  is  sooner  reached,  will  lead  to  an 
uprising,  and  the  final  overthrow  of  the  iniquitous 
system. 

Earnest  Christians  who  are  looking  for  a  place 
where  they  can  have  good  business  prospects  and 
where  their  influence  is  needed,  should  consider  the 
claims  of  this  Territory.  As  immigration  societies 
were  formed  to  help  keep  Kansas  a  free  State,  so 
the  same  plans  might  prove  an  efficient  aid  in  the 
redemption  of  Utah. 


INDEPENDENCE  HALL, 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 


jtppijttittr. 


Independence  Hall.  (By  Hun.  O.  J.  HoUister,  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah.) — The  Pioneers  In  Providing  for  Social,  Educational,  and 
Religious  Necessities  of  the  Non-Mormons  of  Utah  Territory. 

Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court. — Polygamy  not  Religion. — 
The  Illustrations  of  this  Work. — Judj^e  McKean. — Perils  of  a 
Missionary. 

t  (d 

tVTy^HE  homely  adobe  building  on  Third  South, 
'./A  a,'  •',ls^  Wes^  °^  Main  street,  belonging  to  the 
(T^!^t>  First  Congregational  church  of  this  city, 
wLP  P0Pu^arly  known  as  Independence  Hall,  is 
X'i%£x  one  of  the  remarkable  buildings  of  Utah. 
•fl*  It  was  the  first  crystallization  in  bricks 
and  mortar  of  Gentile  tendencies  in  Salt  Lake, 
social,  religious,  and  political.  It  was  the  point,  if 
not  the  seed,  whence  started  the  Christian  churches 
and  scores  of  connected  schools  now  among  the 
most  powerful  influences  affecting  the  destiny  of 
this  Territory.  The  Sunday-school  system  of  the 
Mormons,  even  now  having  an  attendance  of  more 
t  Man  thirty  thousand,  had  its  direct  and  immediate 
incentive  in  the  Sunday-school  opened  in  Independ- 
ence Hall  by  Charles  H.  Hempstead,  Frank  B.  Gil- 
bert, and  William  Sloan,  in  connection  with  the 
Rev.  Norman  McLeod's  First  Congregational  church 
and  society,  and  of    which  Dr.   J.   King  Robinson 


388  WOMEN  OF  MOBMONISM. 

was  superintendent  when  lit-  was  assassinated.  Sun- 
day-schools had  previously  been  attempted  in  one  or 
two  wards  of  the  city,  but  they  were  dying  or 
already  dead  when  the  thronging  attendance  of  this 
school  forced  their  revival,  and  the  opening  of  the 
others  followed  until  they  became  universal. 

YOUNG    MEN'S   LITERAKY  ASSOCIATION. 

One  must  recall  the  condition  of  Utah  nearly 
twenty  years  ago  to  get  at  the  origin  of  Independ- 
ence Hall.  The  civil  war  was  at  its  height,  and  the 
Mormons,  in  exclusive  possession  of  Utah,  were  hop- 
ing for  and  expecting  the 'fulfillment  of  Latter-day 
prophecy  by  the  mutual  destruction  of  North  and 
South.  General  Connor  arrived  at  Salt  Lake  in  the 
second  year  of  the  war  with  the  California  Volun- 
teers, and  established  Camp  Douglas  and  a  provost 
guard  in  the  city.  Gold  was  discovered  in  Idaho 
and  Montana  about  this  time,  and  the  Volunteers 
scattered  out  and  found  mines  in  various  parts  of 
Utah.  The  commerce  of  the  plains,  carried  on  by 
huge  wagon  trains,  was  at  its  height,  and  Salt  Lake 
City  was  an  important  point  in  its  distribution. 
But  at  the  beginning  of  1864  it  was  still  impossible 
to  gather  the  Gentiles  of  the  city  and  camp  together 
in  any  capacity.  There  were  no  <  'lnistian  churches, 
no  mission  schools,  no  Odd  Fellows,  no  Masons,  no 
clubs,  no  hotels,  no  society,  politics,  or  religion;  and 
from  the  fact  that  the  First  Presidency  of  the  Mor- 
mon church  has  dared  within  the  pasi  year  to  curse. 
"in  the  name  of  Israel's  God,"  the  Saint  who  should 


APPENDIX.  389 

sell  a  city  lot  to  a  Gentile,  we  may  get  some  idea  of 
the  condition  and  outlook  of  Gentile  interests  in 
Utah  seventeen  years  ago.  Toward  the  end  of  18G4 
(Nov.  17),  a  few  bright  and  active  spirits  met  for 
the  second  time  in  the  Provost  Marshal's  office  and 
organized  the  Young  Men's  Literary  Association. 
One  year  later  they  celebrated  their  first  anniversary 
by  a  dedicatory  dance  in  the  new  Independence 
Hall,  at  which  one  hundred  couple  were  present,  and 
$202  cleared.  There  were  few  of  the  gentler  sex 
among  them.  Their  ball  tickets  were  $2  for  a 
gentleman  with  lady,  but  $5  for  a  gentleman  alone. 
For  its  reunions,  debates,  readings,  lectures,  socials, 
and  dances,  the  association  rented  at  $100,  then  at 
$125,  a  month,  the  upper  part  of  Daft's  store, — the 
building  now  occupied  by  Day  &  Co  The  active 
members  were  Frank  B.  Gilbert,  D.  D.  Stover,  R. 
A.  Keyes,  Wm.  P.  Appleby,  Samuel  Dean,  Elias 
RansohofF,  Horace  Wheat,  Samuel  Kahn,  Charles  H. 
Hempstead,  William  Sloan,  John  W.  Kerr,  J.  Mech- 
ling,  Howard  Livingston,  Samuel  J.  Lees,  J  King 
Robinson,  Fred  Auerbach,  Nelse  Boukofsky,  John 
Cunnington,  S.  S.  Walker,  John  Bowman,  W  H. 
Whitehill,  and  others,  many  of  whom  have  gone  to 
other  parts  or  have  finally  laid  down  life's  burden. 
All  the  Federal  officers,  most  of  the  officers  of  the 
Volunteers  at  the  camp,  and  all  the  distinguished 
gentlemen  who  visited  the  city  in  18G5,  were 
members,  either  active  or  honorary. 


390  WOMEN   (>F    MOEMONISM. 

FIRST  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH. 

As  near  as  can  be  learned  at  this  moment,  General 
Connor  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Congregational 
minister,  Rev.  Norman  McLeod,  and  through  his 
influence  the  Y.  M.  L.  A.,  before  it  was  a  month  old, 
sent  him  an  invitation  to  come  to  Salt  Lake.  He 
arrived  January  19th,  1865,  and  on  Sunday  (the 
2'2d)  preached  in  the  Association  Hall,  from  the  text, 
"  Can  any  good  come  out  of  Nazareth?  Come  and 
see;"  and  this  was  the  first  Christian  service  ever 
held  in  Utah,  so  far  as  known  to  the  writer.  In 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  he  preached  at  Camp 
Douglas,  and  thereafter  for  some  time,  regularly  in 
the  city  and  at  the  camp.  Within  a  month  the 
First  Congregational  church  and  society  were 
organized,  and  two  Sunday-schools,  one  at  the  camp 
and  one  in  the  Association  Hall,  were  established, 
the  latter  soon  being  cramped  for  room. 

INDEPENDENCE  HALL. 

Naturally,  the  Church  and  Society  and  the  Asso- 
ciation began  soon  to  look  for  permanent  quarters, 
A  lot  was  bargained  for,  and  the  Literary  Com- 
mittee of  the  Association,  which,  by  the  way,  was 
its  chief  working  organ,  circulated  a  subscription 
paper  on  Main  street  the  first  of  such  a  series  as 
never  was  presented  to,  and  so  generously  patronized 
by,  any  equal  number  of  men  before.  It  soon 
footed  up  %  1,000  fit  is  a  pity  the  original,  or  a  copy, 
has  not  been  preserved),  and  toward  the  end  of  the 


APPENDIX.  391 

season  the  house  was  quickly  thrown  together.  The 
lot  cost  $2,500,  the  house  probably  about  $5,000.  Mr. 
McLeod  went  to  California  in  October  and  raised 
$1,440  in  gold,  equivalent  to  perhaps  $2,200  in 
currency ;  but  there  was  left  an  indebtedness  on  the 
property  of  about  $1,200,  which  it  took  just  ten 
years  to  pay  off",  the  rents  barely  meeting  the  interest 
and  keeping  it  in  repair.  The  deed  runs  from 
Samuel  J.  Lees  to  John  Titus,  P.  Edward  Connor, 
Wm.  Sloan,  Charles  H.  Hempstead,  D.  Fred 
Walker,  John  W.  Kerr,  Howard  Livingston,  Samuel 
Kahn,  J.  Mechling,  Dr.  Griswold,  and  George  W. 
Carleton,  Trustees  of  the  First  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  (Congregational)  and  of  the  First  Christian 
Society  connected  with  that  church.  The  property 
is  described  as  "the  E.  6  rods,  W.  £  of  lot  6,  block 
51,  containing  60  square  rods,  as  platted  in  Great 
Salt  Lake  City  survey."  Early  in  18G6  Mr.  Mc- 
Leod went  East,  more  as  politician  than  pastor,  the 
Y.  M.  L.  A.  voting  him  a  send-off  of  $200.  He 
visited  Washington  as  a  witness  before  a  House 
Committee  on  Utah  affairs,  and  in  October  following 
was  returning  to  his  post,  when  he  was  met  at 
Leavenworth  by  letters  announcing  the  assassination 
of  Dr.  J.  K.  Robinson,  and  directing  him  not  to  re- 
turn just  then,  as  it  wa,s  believed  to  be  unsafe  for 
him  to  do  so.  He  was  instructed  by  the  Trustees  to 
resume  his  lecturing  and  soliciting  for  the  common 
cause,  which  he  did,  raising  $2,540  gross  in  five 
months.  Expenses  reduced  this  by  about  one-third, 
and  the  balance  was  afterward  voted  him  as  com- 
pensation in  part  for  his  services. 


302  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

TURBULENT  TIMES. 

By  this  time  the  general  situation  had  materially 
changed.  The  California  Volunteers  had  been  dis- 
charged, and  Camp  Douglas  was  garrisoned  by 
"Galvanized  rebels,"  Confederate  prisoners  who  had 
enlisted  in  the  Union  service.  Idaho  and  Montana 
had  found  sources  of  supply  independent  of  Salt 
Lake,  and  business  grew  dull.  The  church  reassert  i  <  I 
itself,  and  inaugurated  a  small  reign  of  terror  by  the 
assassination  of  Robinson  and  of  Brassfield,  and  by 
other  acts  of  violence.  Gentiles  left  the  Territory ; 
their  press,  the  "Vidette,"  lost  its  patronage,  was 
obliged  to  reduce  its  size  and  force  and  all  but 
surrender  its  principles,  and  some  strong  Gentile 
houses  were  bankrupted  by  church  ostracism.  The 
Federal  officers  appointed  by  President  Johnson 
were  indifferent  Gentiles,  if  not  Jack  Mormons.  The 
first  attempts  at  mining  had  failed.  All  Gentile 
interests  were  in  a  bad  way,  and  might  have  been 
crushed  out  had  not  the  building  of  the  overland 
railroad  revived  them.  After  the  start,  Mr.  McLeod's 
work  was  more  political  than  pastoral,  and  more 
abroad  than  in  Utah.  He  entered  into  it  with  all 
his  energies,  and  church  work  was  neglected  for 
eight  years  after  18G5. 

THE  EPISCOPAL  MISSION. 

The  Hall  was  still  the  center  of  religious  and 
educational  work.     Reverends  Thomas  W.  Saskins 

and  George  L.  Foote  came  to  Salt  Lake  in  the  spring 


rPRESBYTERIAN     CH  U  R  ChT)|||  I  f  fsAINT  PAU  LS  EPISCOPAL  CHAPEL  J 


PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  IN   SALT   LAKE  CITY. 


APPENDIX.  393 

of  1867  (Bishop  Daniel  S.  Tuttle  following  in  July,) 
to  found  an  Episcopal  mission.  Sunday,  May  3d, 
1867,  they  held  service  in  Independence  Hall,  and 
started  a  Sunday-school;  and  they  continued  both 
in  the  Hall,  gradually  gaining  in  strength,  until  they 
moved  into  the  basement  of  their  own  church  in 
June,  1871.  They  first  used  their  present  audience- 
room  in  September  of  that  year. 

ST.  mark's  school. 

They  started  St.  Mark's  Grammar  School  in  what 
is  now  the  Walker  House  cooking  range,  the  old 
bowling-saloon  of  Dr.  Robinson.  They  moved  from 
that  to  Independence  Hall,  then  to  a  house  opposite 
the  Walker  House,  then  back  to  Independence  Hall, 
which  they  occupied  from  September  1,  18G8,  to 
September  1,  1870,  two  years.  When  on  Novem- 
ber 1,  1872,  they  were  ready  to  move  into  their 
new  school-house,  nearly  opposite  the  City  Hall,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Haskins  wrote  Major  Hempstead  a  note, 
asking  of  him  the  favor  of  a  short  address,  sketching 
the  history  of  St.  Mark's  School,  "  which  takes  its 
root,  you  know,"  wrote  Mr.  Haskins,  "from  your- 
self and  McLeod,  as  the  day-school  was  a  growth 
from  the  Sunday-school."  From  that  day  to  this, 
every  Christian  mission  in  Utah  has  grown  day- 
schools  from  its  Sunday-schools  in  the  same  manner. 

OTHER   CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS. 

The  Methodists  now  took  the  Hall  for  their  day- 
school  and  used  it  nearly  a  year,  and  this  was  the 


394  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

starting  point  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Seminary 
and  all  the  Methodist  schools  in  Utah.  The  Episco- 
palians still  using  the  Hall  on  Sundays,  the  Method- 
ists had  their  services  over  Faust's  livery  stable. 
During  this  year,  1871,  the  Trustees  were  disposed 
to  sell  the  property  for  school  purposes.  They 
invited  proposals  from  Mr.  Haskins,  and  got  them 
from  the  Presbyterians.  Mr.  McLeod  consented,  on 
condition  that  it  brought  its  full  value  and  the  pro- 
ceeds were  not  diverted  from  their  original  purpose. 
But  no  trade  was  made.  The  Presbyterians  used 
the  Liberal  Institute,  and  finally  built  a  church  and 
a  good  school  building  of  .their  own.  They  have 
since  fairly  taken  the  lead  in  educational  work  in 
Utah.  The  Hebrew  Congregations  have  always 
used  Independence  Hall  for  their  services.  They 
have  now  become  strong  enough  to  contemplate 
putting  up  a  building  of  their  own,  and  also  estab- 
lishing a  school  in  connection  with  it.  The  Joseph- 
ite  Mormons  held  their  first  meetings  in  Independ- 
ence Hall,  Brigham  Young1  having  refused  them  the 
use  of  any  Mormon  hall  for  that  purpose.  They 
have  just  completed  a.  house  of  worship  of  their  own. 
In  18G7  the  Hal]  was  the  scene  of  the  first  Gentile 
political  meeting  in  Utah, — that  which  nominated 
Hugh  McGroarty  for  Delegate  to  Congress.  In  1ST- 
a  Gentile  mass  meeting  was  held  on  the  grounds  in 
front  of  the  Hall,  the  city  authorities  declining  to 
let  it  be  held  on  the  streets.  The  Woman's  Anti- 
Polygamy  Society  was  organized  within  its  walls, 
and  they  have  always  been  witnesses  of  its  signiti- 


APPENDIX.  395 

cant  proceedings.  The  officers  of  Utah  Lodge  No. 
1,  I.  O.  O.  F.,  were  installed  in  Independence  Hall, 
January  5,  I860,  and  this  was  the  real  beginning  of 
Odd  Fellowship  in  Utah,  although  a  Lodge  was 
organized  with  twenty-three  members  a  year  pre- 
vious (Jan.  25,  1865).  The  Hall  has  often  been  the 
scene  of  festival  and  dance,  of  lectures,  plays,  con- 
certs, shows,  etc.  In  short,  there  was  never  a  more 
useful  building,  homely  as  it  is. 

REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

About  New  Years,  1874,  the  Rev.  Walter  M. 
Barrows  arrived  to  reoccupy  the  field  for  the  Con- 
gregationalists  under  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society.  This  had  been  attempted 
through  Mr.  McLeod  in  1872,  but  the  event  proved 
that  he  was  not  the  man  for  the  work.  Becoming 
aware  of  this  himself,  he  resigned  after  a  year's  trial, 
leaving  the  enterprise  itself  under  a  cloud.  Mr. 
Barrows  had  the  furniture  stored  in  the  Hall  (to 
such  base  uses  had  it  come)  removed  as  soon  as 
possible,  gathered  a  scoi'e  of  adherents,  and  toward 
the  end  of  April  announced  a  meeting  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reorganization.  At  this  meeting  were  the 
ever-faithful  Hempstead,  Major  I.  O.  Dewey,  U.  S. 
A.,  D.  F.  Walker,  John  T.  Lynch,  R.  H.  Robertson, 
O.  J.  Hollister,  T.  R.  Jones,  Henry  C.  Goodspeed, 
Frank  Tilford,  and  Henry  S.  Greeley.  Articles  of 
incorporation  were  adopted, but  they  were  superseded, 
July  2,  by  an  incorporation  under  the  laws  of  Utah, 
the  gentlemen  above-named  being  the  incorporators. 


396  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

The  new  Trustees  assuming  the  indebtedness,  which 
was  finally  paid  off  in  January,  1876,  the  property 
was  deeded  to  them.  But  Mr.  Barrows,  who  left 
the  church  last  June  to  become  the  Secretary  of  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  tolls  the  story  of  the  last 
few  years  in  his  pastoral  letter  of  January  1,  1881, 
as  follows: — 

REV.  WALTER  M.  BARROWS'  WORK. 

"  Seven  years  ago  last  Christmas  night  I  came  to 
this  city  an  entire  stranger.  After  five  months  of 
preliminary  work,  our  church  was  organized.  We 
began  a  missionary  church  with  twenty-six 
members.  God  has  prospered  us,  and  to-day  we 
are  a  self-supporting  church,  with  a  membership  of 
118,  and  with  a  Sunday-school,  the  average  attend- 
ance of  which  is  now  nearly  200.  We  have  also  had 
a  hand  in  establishing  the  Salt  Lake  Academy,  an 
institution  of  learning  in  which  we  already  take 
great  pride,  and  from  which  we  expect  greater 
things  in  the  future.  In  connection  with  friends  in 
the  East,  we  have  established  in  this  city  the  first 
free  school  ever  opened  here,  and  in  different  parts 
of  the  Territory,  five  other  schools.  This  progress 
has  been  made  in  the  face  of  unusual  difficulties  and 
discouragements,  but  the  outlook  for  the  future  is 
certainly  hopeful.  I  believe  we  are  in  a  position  to- 
day where,  with  God's  blessing,  we  can  make 
greater  progress  in  one  year  than  we  could  in  any 
three  years  that  are  past." 

After  this  letter  was  penned,  and  before  Mr.  Bar- 


APPENDIX.  307 

rows    left,    there  was   an    accession,    making    the 
membership  about  150.     The  society  numbered  325, 

and    not  least  missed  to-day  among    the  treasures 
the  year  has  stolen  from  the  church  and  society  will 
be   Mr.  Barrows   himself.     Doubtless   he   was   not 
faultless,  but  he  had  a  breadth  and  manliness  which 
peculiarly  fittedhim  for  this  field.     He  had  a  faculty 
of  ignoring  trifles,  and  applying  his  strength  only  to 
essentials.      He  preached  the  necessity  of  a  manly 
life  rather  than  of  nice  professions.     His  scholarship, 
as  well  as  general  good  judgment,  made  his  treat- 
ment of  any  subject  worthy  of  attention,  and  his 
semi-religious  Sunday  evening  lectures   were   very 
popular,  and  justly  so.     He  did  not  require  notes, 
and   his  delivery  was   impressive.      He   kept   well 
abreast  of  the  progressive  thought  of  the  times,  and 
took  an  active  interest  in  whatever  was  of  public  con- 
cern.    He  never  rested  until  he  got  the  educational 
work  of  his   church   and  society  started.     He  is  a 
man  of  taste  and  discretion,  self-contained,  with  the 
masterful  way  that  is  inseparable  from   ability— a 
little  cold  in  temperament,  perhaps,  and  wanting  in 
physical  robustness,  but  withal  a  natural  leader,  who 
would  be  prominent  and  popular  in  any  field   of 
human  effort.     It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  he 
concluded  to  leave  Salt  Lake,   and  to  the  writer, 
doubtful  if  he  has  found  or  will  find  a  field  that 
more  needs  his  services  or  in  which  he  can  be  of 
greater  usefulness.    It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  church 
and  society  will  soon  fill  his  place,  in  every  sense  of 
the  word.     The  Trustees  at  present  are  George  A. 


398  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

Lowe,  Thomas  R.  Jones,  J.  R.  Walker,  Edward 
Benner,  Frank  Tilford,  L.  E.  Holden,  and  H.  C. 
Goodspeed;  the  officers,  P.  T.  VanZile,  O.J.  Hollis- 
ter,  and  John  T.  Lynch.  The  ladies  have  a  Ladies' 
Benevolent  Society  and  a  Woman's  Home  Mission- 
ary Society.  The  Rev.  D.  L.  Leonard  came  out  last 
summer  from  Minnesota  to  take  charge  of  and 
extend  the  educational  work  of  the  church,  backed 
by  the  Home  Missionary  Society  and  the  New  West 
Education  Commissi<  in.  Mr.  Leonard  has  established 
six  additional  schools,  making  eleven  in  all. 

THE   EDUCATIONAL   WORK. 

This  was  begun  in  1878  by  raising  $2,500  and 
building  three  school-rooms  upon  Independence  Hall. 
The  Salt  Lake  Academy  was  incorporated,  and  be- 
gan its  first  year  with  an  attendance  averaging  100. 
It  is  now  in  its  fourth  year,  with  an  average  attend- 
ance of  nearly  200.  Since  the  first  year  it  has  used 
the  audience-room  as  well  as  the  new  ones.  Through 
the  New  West  Education  Commission  the  Academy 
has  the  past  year  obtained  $13,000,  and  it  has  raised 
by  subscription  in  Salt  Lake  $12,000,  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  an  academy  building.  The 
foundation  is  completed,  and  the  Academy  expects 
to  open  its  fifth  year  in  a  house  of  its  own,  ample 
for  its  uses,  on  a  lot  16x20  rods  in  area,  in  a  fine 
location,  and  then  to  go  on  as  fast  as  possible  to 
make  of  itself  an  institution  equal  in  every  respect 
to  Eastern  academies. 


APPENDIX.  399 

PAST,  PRESENT,  AND  FUTURE. 

The  reader  who  has  perused  this  narrative  and 
read  between  the  lines  all  it  implies,  will  be  forced 
to  accredit  the  Gentiles  of  Salt  Lake  from  the  earliest 
times  with  extraordinary  public  spirit.  Many  of 
those  mentioned  above  have  gone  elsewhere,  some  of 
them  are  dead,  gentle  Charley  Hempstead  for  one, 
Frank  Gilbert,  Horace  Wheat,  Dr.  Robinson,  and 
R.  H.  Robertson;  but  their  work  lives  and  grows 
in  almost  geometrical  progression.  It  required  time 
and  trouble  and  means  to  provide  for  the  social, 
religious,  educational,  and  political  needs  of  the 
Gentiles  of  Utah.  These  men  and  their  confreres 
still  among  us  did  not  hesitate  to  make  the  requisite 
sacrifice,  whatever  it  was.  After  this  pioneer 
mission  others  followed,  and  they  demanded  labor 
and  the  sacrifice  of  time,  trouble,  and  money;  and 
these  have  been  generously  given.  The  calls  for  sixteen 
years  have  been  weighty  and  incessant;  subscription 
papers  have  been  in  almost  constant  circulation  on 
Main  street;  the  element  that  had  to  respond  ami 
that  has  responded  was  numerically  weak  and  has 
labored  under  many  and  unusual  disadvantages. 
But  the  missionary  and  educational  work  done 
and  procured  to  be  done  by  this  element,  ought  to 
forever  silence  the  charges  of  rapacity  and  self-seek- 
ing so  flippantly  made  against  it.  It  must  have 
raised  for  churches  and  schools  and  hospitals  alto- 
gether nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  It  must  be 
now  schooling  more  than  three  thousand  children. 


400  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

Ten  years  hence,  with  growth  in  proportion,  it  -will 
have  200  schools  and  an  attendance  of  10,000  pupils. 
The  indirect  influence  of  this  work  is  simply  incal- 
culable. With  railroads,  mining,  and  a  five  press,  it 
has  made  a  new  country  of  Utah.  It  is  the  contin- 
uation and  extension  of  this  work  that  is  to  ulti- 
mately drive  barbarism  from  the  Territory,  and  make 
it  a  flourishing  American  State.  Laws  cannot  do 
it,  force  cannot;  but  darkness  vanisheth  quickly 
when  light  shineth.  "The  people  that  walked  in 
darkness  have  seen  a  great  light:  upon  them  hath 
the  light  shined."  Had  the  pioneers  neglected  this 
work,  we  should  still  have -had  it  to  do,  and  against 
tenfold  obstacles.  Let  every  one  feel,  then,  that  he 
owes  something  to  the  community,  and  let  the 
splendid  example  set  by  those  who  blazed  the  way, 
and  the  magnificent  results  apparent,  encourage 
him  to  discharge  the  debt  to  the  best  of  his  capacity 
and  opportunity.  As  he  grows  older,  his  work  in 
this  line  will  be  that  which  he  will  regard  with  the 
most  satisfaction.  Anil  it  is  a  good  investment  from 
a  purely  business  stand-point.  Does  any  one 
suppose,  for  example,  that  the  Walker  Brothers 
would  to-day  be  building  a  magnificent  opera  house 
in  Salt  Lake  had  not  they  and  others  invested 
money  in  the  Independence  Hall  mission  sixteen 
years  ago?  An  educated,  reading,  free-thinking  pro- 
gressive community  is  the  best,  even  if  money- 
making  is  one's  sole  object. 


V/////M, 

SIDNEY  R.  RIGDON.  THE  FIRST  MOKMON  PRBACHBB 


APPENDIX.  401 

DECISION   OF   THE   SUPREME   COURT   OF   TIIF    UNITED 

STATES   IN    THE   CASK   OF    GEORGE   REYNOLDS, 

OF   UTAH,   CONVICTED  OF   BIGAMY. 

There  are  those  who  cannot  see  how  the  Govern- 
ment can  interfere  with  polygamy,  since  it  is  claimed 
by  the  Mormons  to  be  a  part  of  their  religion.  For 
the  benefit  of  such  persons,  we  give  below  the  deci- 
sion of  the  Supreme  Court,  as  delivered  by  Chief 
Justice;  Waite  in  this  case,  so  far  as  it  pertains  to 
this  point: — 

V.    As  to  the  defense  of  religious  belief  or  duty. 

On  the  trial,  the  plaintiff'  in  error,  the  accused, 
proved  that  at  the  time  of  his  alleged  second  mar- 
riage he  was,  and  for  many  years  before  had  been, 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter- 
day  Saints,  commonly  called  the  Mormon  church, 
and  a  believer  in  its  doctrines;  that  it  was  an  ac- 
cepted doctrine  of  that  church  "that  it  was  the  duty 
of  male  members  of  said  church,  circumstances  per- 
mitting, to  practice  polygamy;  *  *  *  that  this 
duty  was  enjoined  by  different  books  which  the 
members  of  said  church  believed  to  be  of  divine 
origin,  and  among  others  the  Holy  Bible,  and  also 
that  the  members  of  the  church  believed  that  the 
practice  of  polygamy  was  directly  enjoined  upon  the 
male  members  thereof  by  the  Almighty  God,  in  a 
revelation  to  Joseph  Smith,  the  founder  and  prophet 
of  said  church ;  that  the  failing  or  refusing  to  practice 
polygamy  by  such  male  members  of   said  church, 


402  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

when  circumstances  would  admit,  would  be  punished, 
and  that  the  penalty  for  such  failure  and  refusal 
would  be  damnation  in  the  life  to  come."  He  also 
proved  "that  he  had  received  permission  from  the 
recognized  authorities  in  said  church  to  enter  into 
polygamous  marriage;  *  *  *  that  Daniel  H. 
Wells,  one  having  authority  in  said  church  to  per- 
form the  marriage  ceremony,  married  the  said 
defendant  on  or  about  the  time  the  crime  is  alleged 
to  have  been  committed,  to  some  woman  by  the 
name  of  Schofield,  and  that  such  marriage  ceremony 
was  performed  under,  and  pursuant  to,  the  doctrines 
of  said  church." 

Upon  this  proof  lie  asked  the  court  to  instruct  the 
jury  that  if  they  found  from  the  evidence  that  he 
"  was  married  as  charged — if  he  was  married — in 
pursuance  of,  and  in  conformity  with,  what  he 
believed  at  the  time  to  be  a  religious  duty,  that  the 
verdict  must  be,  'not  guilty.'"  This  request  was 
refused,  and  the  court  did  charge  "  that  there  must 
have  been  a  criminal  intent,  but  that  if  the  defendant, 
under  the  influence  of  a  religious  belief  that  it  was 
right, — under  an  inspiration  (if  you  please)  that  it 
was  right, — deliberately  married  a  second  time,  hav- 
ing a  first  wife  living,  the  want  of  consciousness  of 
evil  intent,  the  want  of  understanding  on  his  part 
that  he  was  committing  a  crime,  did  not  excuse 
him ;  but  the  law  in  such  case  inexorably  implies  the 
criminal  intent." 

Upon  this  charge  and  refusal  to  charge,  (lie  ques- 
tion is  raised  whether  religious  belief  can  In-  accepted 


APPENDIX.  403 

as  a  justification  of  an  overt  act  made  criminal  by 
the  law  of  the  land.  The  inquiry  is  not  as  to  the 
power  of  Congress  to  prescribe  criminal  laws  for  the 
Territories,  but  as  to  the  guilt  of  one  who  knowingly 
violates  a  law,  which  has  been  properly  enacted,  if 
he  entertains  a  religious  belief  that  the  law  is 
wrong. 

Congress  cannot  pass  a  law  for  the  government  of 
the  Territories  which  shall  prohibit  the  free  exercise 
of  religion.  The  first  amendment  to  the  constitution 
expressly  forbids  such  legislation.  Religious  freedom 
is  guaranteed  everywhere  throughout  the  United 
States,  so  far  as  Congressional  interference  is  con- 
cerned. The  question  to  be  determined  is  whether 
the  law  now  under  consideration  comes  within  this 
prohibition. 

The  word  "  religion  "  is  not  denned  in  the  Con- 
stitution. We  must  go  elsewhere,  therefore,  to  ascer- 
tain its  meaning,  andnowhere  more  appropriately,  we 
think,  than  to  the  history  of  the  times  in  the  midst 
of  which  the  provision  was  adopted.  The  precise 
point  of  the  inquiry  is,  What  is  the  religious  freedom 
which  has  been  guaranteed? 

Before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  attempts 
were  made  in  some  of  the  colonies  and  States  to 
legislate  not  only  in  respect  to  its  doctrines  but  to  its 
precepts,  as  well.  The  people  were  taxed  against 
their  will  for  the  support  of  religion,  and  sometimes 
for  the  support  of  particular  sects  to  whose  tenets  they 
could  not  and  did  not  subscribe.  Punishments  were 
prescribed  for  a  failure  to  attend  upon  public  wor- 


404  WOMEN    OF   M<H;M<  >\  ISM. 

ship,  and  sometimes  for  entertaining  heretical  opin- 
ions. The  controversy  upon  this  general  subject  was 
animated  in  many  of  the  States,  but  seemed  at  last 
to  culminate  in  Virginia.  In  17<S4  the  House  of 
Delegates  of  that  State,  having  under  consideration 
"a  hill  establishing  provision  for  teachers  of  the 
Christian  religion,"  postponed  it  until  the  next 
session,  and  directed  that  the  bill  be  published  and 
distributed,  and  that  the  people  be  requested  "to 
signify  their  opinion  respecting  the  adoption  of  such 
a  bill  at  the  next  session  of  assembly." 

This  brought  out  a  determined  opposition. 
Among  others,  Mr.  Madison  prepared  a  "  Memorial 
and  Remonstrance,"  which  was  widely  circulated 
and  signed,  and  in  which  he  demonstrated  "that 
religion,  or  the  duty  we  owe  the  Creator,"  was  not 
within  the  cognizance  of  civil  government.  (Scra- 
pie's Virginia  Baptists,  Appendix.)  At  the  next 
session  the  proposed  bill  was  not  only  defeated, 
but  another  "  for  establishing  religious  freedom," 
drafted  by  Mr  Jefferson  (1  Jeff.  Works,  45;  2How- 
ison's  Hist,  of  Va.,  298.),  was  passed.  In  the  pre- 
amble of  this  act  (12  Herring's  Stat.,  84),  religious 
freedom  is  defined,  and  after  a  recital  "that  to  sutler 
the  civil  magistrate  to  intrude  his  powers  into  the 
held  of  opinion,  and  to  restrain  the  profession  or  prop- 
agation of  principles  on  supposition  of  their  ill 
tendency,  is  a  dangerous  fallacy  which  at  once 
destroys  all  religious  liberty,"  it  is  declared  "that  it 
is  time  enough  for  the  rightful  purposes  of  civil 
government  for  its  officers  to  interfere  when  princi- 


APPENDIX.  405 

pies  break  out  into  overt  acts  against  peace  and  good 
order."  In  these  two  sentences  is  found  the  true 
distinction  between  what  properly  belongs  to  the 
Church  and  what  to  the  State. 

In  a  little  more  than  a  year  after  the  passage  of 
this  statute  the  convention  met  which  prepared  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Of  this  convention 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  not  a  member,  he  being  then 
absent  as  Minister  to  France.  As  soon  as  he  saw 
the  draft  of  the  Constitution  proposed  for  adoption, 
he,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  expressed  his  disappoint- 
ment at  the  absence  of  an  expressed  declaration 
insuring  the  freedom  of  religion  (2  Jeff.  Works, 
355.),  but  was  willing  to  accept  it  as  it  was,  trusting 
that  the  good  sense  and  honest  intentions  of  the  peo- 
ple would  bring  about  the  necessary  alterations,  (1 
Jeff.  Works,  79.)  Five  of  the  States,  while  adopting 
the  Constitution,  proposed  amendments.  Three,  New 
Hampshire,  New  York,  and  Virginia,  included  in 
one  form  or  another  a  declaration  of  religious  free- 
dom in  the  changes  they  desired  to  have  made,  as  did 
also  North  Carolina,  where  the  convention  at  first 
declined  to  ratify  the  Constitution  until  the  pro- 
posed amendments  were  acted  upon.  Accordingly, 
at  the  first  session  of  the  first  Congress  the  amend- 
ment now  under  consideration  was  proposed  with 
others  by  Mr.  Madison.  It  met  the  views  of  the 
advocates  of  religious  freedom  and  was  ad<  >pted.  Mr. 
Jefferson  afterward,  in  reply  to  an  address  to  him 
by  a  committee  of  the  Danbury  Baptist  Association 
(8  Jeff.  Works,  113.),  took  occasion  to  say:  "Believing 


406  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

with  you  that  religion  is  a  matter  which  lies  solely 
between  man  and  his  God,  that  he  owes  account  to 
none  other  for  his  faith  or  his  worship,  that  the 
legislative  powers  of  the  Government  reach  actions 
only,  and  not  opinions,  I  contemplate  with  solemn 
reverence  that  act  of  the  whole  American  people 
which  declared  that  their  Legislature  should  '  make 
no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion  or 
prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof,  thus  building  a 
wall  of  separation  between  Church  and  State. 
Adhering  to  this  expression  of  the  supreme  will  of 
the  nation  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of  conscience,  I 
shall  see  with  sincere  satisfaction  the  progress  of 
those  sentiments  which  tend  to  restore  man  to  all 
his  natural  rights,  convinced  he  lias  no  natural 
right  in  opposition  to  his  social  duties.'  Coming 
as  this  does  from  an  acknowledged  leader  of  the 
advocates  of  the  measure,  it  may  be  accepted  almost 
as  an  authoritative  declaration  of  the  scope  and  eflS  set 
of  the  amendment  thus  secured.  Congress  was 
deprived  of  all  legislative  power  over  mere  opinion, 
but  was  left  free  to  reach  actions  which  were  in 
violation  of  social  duties  or  subversive  of  good  order." 
Polygamy  has  always  been  odious  among  the 
northern  and  western  nations  of  Europe,  and  until 
the  establishment  of  the  Mormon  church,  almost 
exclusively  a  feature  of  the  life  of  Asiatic  and 
African  people.  At  common  law  the  second  mar- 
riage was  always  void  (2  Kent's  Com.,  70.),  and  from 
the  earliest  history  of  England,  polygamy  has  been 
treated   as  an    offense  against  society.     After   the 


APPENDIX.  407 

establishment  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  until 
the  time  of  James  I.,  it  was  punished  through  the 
instrumentality  of  those  tribunals,  not  merely  be- 
cause ecclesiastical  rights  had  been  violated,  but 
because  upon  the  separation  of  the  ecclesiastical 
courts  from  the  civil,  the  ecclesiastical  were  supposed 
to  be  the  most  appropriate  for  the  trial  of  matri- 
monial causes  and  offenses  against  the  rights  of  mar- 
riage,  just  as  they  were  for  testamentary  causes  and 
the  settlement  of  the  estates  of  deceased  persons. 

By  the  statute  1,  James  I.,  chap.  11,  the  offense, 
if  committed  in  England  or  Wales,  was  made 
punishable  in  the  civil  courts,  and  the  penalty  was 
death.  As  this  statute  was  limited  in  its  operation  to 
England  and  Wales,  it  was  at  a  very  early  period 
re-enacted,  generally  with  some  modifications,  in  all 
the  colonies.  In  connection  with  the  case  we  are 
now  considering,  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  on  the 
8th  of  December,  1788,  after  the  passage  of  the  act 
establishing  religious  freedom,  and  after  tjjbe  conven- 
tion of  Virginia  had  recommended  as  an  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  declara- 
tion in  a  bill  of  rights  that  "  all  men  have  an  equal 
natural  and  unalienable  right  to  the  free  exercise  of 
religion,  according  to  the  dictates  of  conscience,"  the 
Legislature  of  that  State  substantially  enacted  the 
statute  of  James  I.,  death  penalty  included,  because 
as  recited  in  the  preamble,  "it  hath  been  doubted 
whether  bigamy  or  polygamy  be  punishable  by  the 
laws  of  this  commonwealth."  (12  Hening's  Stat. 
GDI.)     From  that  day  to  this  we  think  it  may  safely 


408  WOMEN   OF  MORMONISM. 

be  said  there  never  has  been  a  time  in  any  State  of 
the  union  when  polygamy  lias  not  been  an  offense 
against  society,  cognizable  by  the  civil  courts  and 
punishable  with  more  or  less  severity.  In  the  face 
of  all  this  evidence  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the 
constitutional  guaranty  of  religious  freedom  was 
intended  to  prohibit  legislation  in  respect  to  this  most 
important  feature  of  social  life.  Marriage,  while 
from  its  very  nature  a  sacred  obligation,  is  neverthe- 
less in  most  civilized  nations  a  civil  contract  and 
usually  regulated  by  law.  Upon  it  society  may  be 
said  to  be  built,  and  out  of  its  fruits  spring  social 
relations  and  social  obligations  and  duties,  with 
which  government  is  necessarily  required  to 
deal.  In  fact,  according  as  monogamous  or  polyg- 
amous marriages  are  allowed,  do  we  find  the  princi- 
ples on  which  the  government  of  the  people  rests, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  Professor  Lieber  says, 
Polygamy  leads  to  patriarchal  principle,  and  which, 
when  applied  to  large  communities,  fetters  the  peo- 
ple in  stationary  despotism,  while  that  principle  can- 
not long  exist  in  connection  with  monogamy. 
Chancellor  Kent  observes  that  this  remark  is  equally 
striking  and  profound.  (2  Kent's  Com.,  81,  note,  e.) 
An  exceptional  colony  of  polygamists  under  an 
exceptional  leadership  may  sometimes  exist  for  a 
time  without  appearing  to  disturb  the  social  condition 
of  the  people  who  surround  it,  but  there  cannot  be  a 
doubt  that,  unless  restricted  by  some  form  of  con- 
stitution, it  is  within  the  Bcope  of  the  power  of  every 
civil  government  to  determine  whether  polygamy  or 
monogamy  shall  be  the  law  of  social  life  under  its 
dominion. 


APPENDIX.  409 

In  our  opinion  the  statute  immediately  under  con- 
sideration is  within  the  legislative  power  of  Con- 
gress. It  is  constitutional  and  valid  as  prescribing 
a  rule  of  action  for  all  those  residing  in  the  Terri- 
tories and  in  places  over  which  the  United  States 
have  exclusive  control.  This  being  so,  the  only 
question  which  remains  is,  whether  those  who  make 
polygamy  a  part  of  their  religion  are  excepted  from 
the  operation  of  the  statute.  If  they  are,  then  those 
who  do  not  make  polygamy  a  part  of  their  religious 
belief  may  be  found  guilty  and  punished,  while 
those  who  do  must  be  acquitted  and  go  free.  This 
would  be  introducing  a  new  element  into  criminal  law. 
Laws  are  made  for  the  government  of  actions,  and 
while  they  cannot  interfere  with  mere  religious  belief 
and  opinions,  they  may  with  practices.  Suppose  one 
believed  that  human  sacrifices  were  a  necessary  part 
of  religious  worship,  would  it  be  seriously  contended 
that  the  civil  government  under  which  he  lived 
could  not  interfere  to  prevent  a  sacrifice?  Or  if  a 
wife  religiously  believed  it  was  her  duty  to  burn 
herself  upon  the  funeral  pile  of  her  dead  husband, 
would  it  be  beyond  the  power  of  the  civil  govern- 
ment to  prevent  her  carrying  her  belief  into 
practice? 

So  here,  as  a  law  of  the  organization  of  society 
under  the  exclusive  dominion  of  the  United  States, 
it  is  provided  that  plural  marriages  shall  not  be 
allowed.  Can  a  man  excuse  his  practices  to  the 
contrary  because  of  his  religious  belief?  To  permit 
this  would  be  to  make  the  professed  doctrines  of 


410  WOMEN  OF  MORMON  ISM. 

religious  belief  superior  to  the  law  of  the  land,  and 
in  effect  to  permit  every  citizen  to  become  a  law 
unto  himself.  Government  could  exist  only  in  name 
under  such  circumstances. 

A  criminal  intent  is  generally  an  element  of  crime, 
but  every  man  is  presumed  to  intend  the  necessary 
and  legitimate  consequences  of  what  he  knowingly 
docs.  Here  the  accused  knew  he  had  been  once 
married,  and  that  his  first  wife  was  living.  He 
also  knew  that  his  second  marriage  was  forbidden 
by  law.  When,  therefore,  he  married  the  second 
time,  he  is  presumed  to  have  intended  to  break  the 
law.  And  the  breaking  of  the  law  is  the  crime. 
Every  act  necessary  to  constitute  the  crime  was 
knowingly  done,  and  the  crime  was,  therefore, 
knowingly  committed.  Ignorance  of  a  fact  may 
sometimes  be  taken  as  evidence  of  a  want  of  criminal 
intent,  but  not  ignorance  of  the  law.  The  only 
defense  of  the  accused  in  this  case  is  his  belief  that 
the  law  ought  not  to  have  been  enacted.  It  matters 
not  that  his  belief  was  a  part  of  his  professed 
religion,  it  was  still  belief,  and  belief  only. 

In  Begina  vs.  Wagstaff  (10  Cox.  Crim.  Cases, 
531.),  the  parents  of  a  sick  child  who  omitted  to  call 
in  medical  attendance  because  of  their  religious  belief 
that  what  they  did  for  its  cure  would  be  effective, 
were  held  not  to  be  guilty  of  manslaughter,  while  it 
was  said  the  contrary  would  have  been  the  result  if 
the  child  had  actually  been  starved  to  death  by  the 
parents,  under  the  notion  that  it  was  their  religious 
dutyto  abstain  from  giving  it  food.     But  when  the 


APPENDIX.  411 

offense  consists  of  a  positive  act  which  is  knowingly 
done,  it  would  be  dangerous  to  hold  that  the  offender 
might  escape  punishment  because  he  religiously 
believed  the  law  which  he  had  broken  ought  never 
to  have  been  made.  No  case,  we  believe,  can  be 
found  that  has  gone  so  far. 

[Reynold's  counsel  also  claimed  that  the  decision 
should  be  set  aside  because  the  judge  in  his  charge  to 
the  jury  improperly  directed  their  attention  to  the 
consequences  of  polygamy.  The  following  is  the 
part  of  the  decision  pertaining  to  that  point] : — 

VI.  As  to  that  part  of  the  charge  which  directed 
the  attention  of  the  jury  to  the  consequences  of 
'polygamy. 

The  passage  complained  of  is  as  follows:  "I  think 
it  not  improper,  in  the  discharge  of  your  duties  in 
this  case,  that  you  should  consider  what  are  to  be 
the  consequences  to  the  innocent  victims  of  this 
delusion.  As  this  contest  goes  on,  they  multiply,  and 
there  are  pure-minded  women,  and  there  are  inno- 
cent children — innocent  in  a  sense  even  beyond  the 
degree  of  the  innocence  of  childhood  itself, — these 
are  to  be  the  sufferers;  and  as  jurors  fail  to  do  their 
duty  as  these  cases  come  up  in  the  Territory  of 
Utah,  just  so  do  these  victims  multiply  and  spread 
themselves  over  the  land." 

While  every  appeal  by  the  court  to  the  passions  or 
the  prejudices  of  the  jury  should  be  promptly 
rebuked,  and  while  it  is  the  imperative  duty  of  a 
reviewing  court  to  take  care  that  wrong  is  not  done 
in  this  way,  we  see  no  just  cause  for  complaint  in 


412  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

this  case.  Congress  in  1 S < i 2  (12  Stat.,  501.),  saw  fit 
to  make  bigamy  a  crime  in  the  Territories.  This 
was  done  because  of  the  evil  consequences  that  were 
supposed  to  flow  from  plural  marriages.  All  the 
court  did  was  to  call  the  attention  of  the  jury  to  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  crime  for  which  the  accused 
was  on  trial,  and  to  remind  them  of  the  duty  they 
had  to  perform.  There  was  no  appeal  to  the  pas- 
sions, no  instigation  of  prejudice.  Upon  the  show- 
ing made  by  the  accused  himself,  he  was  guilty  of  a 
violation  of  the  law  under  which  he  had  been  in- 
dicted: and  the  effort  of  the  court  seems  to  have 
been,  not  to  withdraw  the  minds  of  the  jury  from 
the  issue  to  be  tried,  but  to  bring  them  to  it:  not  to 
make  them  partial,  but  to  keep  them  impartial. 

Upon  a  careful  consideration  of  the  whole  case  we 
are  satisfied  that  no  error  was  committed  by  the 
court  below,  and  the  judgment  is  consequently 
affirmed. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Most  of  the  illustrations  are  sufficiently  referred 
to  in  the  body  of  the  work,  but  one  or  two  need  a 
word  of  reference. 

Mrs.  A.  G.  Paddock  is  a  noted  writer  on  Mor- 
monism,  and  in  addition  to  numerous  articles  m  the 
papers,  has  written  "  In  the  Toils,"  and  "  The  Fate  <  >f 
Madam  La  Tour,"  two  stories,  vividly  portraying 
the  evils  of  Polygamy. 

Hon.  James  B.  McKean  is  known  in  Utah  as  the 
Martyred  Judge.     His  ancestors  on  his  father's  side 


APPENDIX.  413 

were  of  Scotch  descent,  and  on  his  mother's  were 
connected  with  the  Huguenots  of  France.  He  was 
born  in  Hoosic,  N.  V.,  1821.  He  was  a  lawyer  by 
profession,  and  served  four  years  as  county  judge. 

In  1858  the  Republicans  of  the  fifteenth  district 
elected  him  Representative  to  ( !ongress  and  re-elected 
him  in  1860.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  great 
civil  war.  During  President  Johnson's  administra- 
tion he  was  tendered  the  appointment  of  Consul  to 
San  Domingo,  which,  however,  he  declined. 

In  1870  President  Grant  appointed  him  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Utah— a  position 
for  which  he  was  not  an  applicant,  but  which  he  was 
induced  to  accept,  and  held  for  five  years. 
^  Judges  Strickland  and  Walker  ordered  the  United 
States  Marshal  to  summon  the  jurors  in  the  trials 
of  Mormon  offenders,  and  only  Gentiles  or  apostate 
Mormons  were  placed  on  the  juries.  Thus  it  was 
possible  to  indict  and  convict  many  of  the  leading 
Mormons.  Their  counsel  had  objected  to  this  as 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  Territory.  Judge  Mc- 
Kean  gave  an  able  opinion  sustaining  the  action  of 
his  associates.  On  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  however,  this  decision  was  re- 
versed, and  those  who  had  been  convicted,  were  re- 
leased. The  Mormons  were  triumphant,'  and  the 
Gentiles  despondent. 

Judge  McKean  was  the  first  man  to  lay  hands  on 
the  Lord's  Prophet.  Brigham  Young  was  arrested, 
by  his  order,  for  contempt  of  the  authority  of  the 
Court,  and  imprisoned  for  twenty-four  hours. 


414  WOMEN  OF  MORMONISM. 

The  Mormons  were  astonished,  and  the  Gentiles 
elated.  It  seemed  as  though  the  day  of  better 
things  had  come,  but  for  some  unknown  reason 
President  Grant,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  Mormons; 
removed  the  brave  and  upright  judge,  and  the  cause 
of  justice  and  righteousness  received  a  blow  from 
which  it  has  never  recovered. 

Some  account  of  Rev.  D.  J.  McMillan's  work  is 
given  in  chapter  twenty-four,  but  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  paper  will  show  the  perils  of  Missionary 
work  among  the  Saints  even  as  late  as  1875.  Mr. 
McMillan  vouches  for  the  truth  of  the  extract: — 

"  In  support  of  a  charge-made  in  Harper  s  Mag- 
azine that  Brigham  Youn<x,  before  a  full  consreera- 
tion,  in  July,  1875,  ordered  his  hearers  to  kill  the 
Rev.  Mr.  McMillan,  a  Presbyterian  minister  in  Utah, 
the  Salt  Lake  Tribune  tells  at  length  the  story  of 
the  meeting  in  question.  It  was  a  meeting  called  in 
the  San  Pete  valley  to  receive  President  Young, 
seven  or  eight  of  the  apostles,  and  some  lesser  lights. 
George  Q.  Cannon,  Brigham  Young,  Jr.,  Daniel  H. 
Wells.  Lorenzo  Snow,  Erastus  Snow,  Orson  Hyde, 
and  A.  M.  Musser  were  in  the  party.  After  several 
other  matters  had  been  treated  by  Young,  he  took 
up  the  McMillan  matter,  and  said : — 

"'There  is  a  mischievous  stranger,  a  Presbyterian 
minister,  in  this  valley.  He  has  no  business  here. 
The  Lord  has  given  to  me  these  valleys,  and  to  those 
whom  I  choose  to  have  occupy  them;  this  Presby- 
terian minister  has  no  business  here.  The  Saints  do 
not  know  how  vile  a  character  this  man  1ms.     In 


APPENDIX.  415 

the  best  society  in  the  United  States,  not  one  child 
in  ten  can  identify  his  father.  Mistresses  are 
luxuries  which  are  conceded  to  all  orthodox  minis- 
ters. One  prominent  clergyman  keeps  twenty- 
eight  unstresses,  and  though  I  don't  know  this 
minister  who  has  come  here,  he  is  one  of  the  same 
stripe.  I  am  informed  that  Saints  have  gone  to  hear 
this  man  preach,  and  have  sent  their  daughters  to  his 
school.  The  next  thing  you  will  know  he  will  send, 
sorrow  and  distress  to  the  hearts  of  the  mothers 
of  these  girls.'  (Then  followed  something  too 
obscene  for  publication.)  'You  must  not  be 
deceived  by  the  fact  that  this  man  seems  a  gentle- 
man and  a  moral  man;  there  is  just  where  the  danger 
lies.  He  is  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing.  What  would 
you  do  were  a  wolf  to  enter  the  held  where  your 
sheep  are?  Why,  you  would  shoot  him  down.  Kill 
him  on  the  spot.  Inasmuch  as  .souls  are  more  pre- 
cious than  sheep,  it  becomes  you  to  be  correspond- 
ingly more  diligent  in  ridding  yourselves  of  this  in- 
truder. I  need  not  tell  the  Saints  how  this  is  to  be 
done.  They  know  well  enough.'  Then  with  up- 
lifted hands,  he  said:  'You  must  obey  me  the 
same  as  though  Jehovah  had  spoken;  for  my  voice 
is  the  voice  of  Jehovah.'  Those  were  the  wOrds 
delivered  to  quite  2,000  people, — a  primitive  people, 
— taught  from  youth  up  to  believe  the  speaker  was 
the  vicegerent  on  earth  of  the  Infinite  God. 

"  George  Q.  Cannon  followed,  indorsing  everything 
that  Young  had  said;  and,  referring  to  the  law  of 
1862  against  polygamy,  .said  it  was  a  dead  letter 


416  WOMEN   OF   MORMONJSM. 

and  always  would  be.  He  referred  to  the  fact  that 
Congress  had  never  unseated  him,  as  ;t  proof  that  his 
people  are  shielded  by  the  Almighty,  and  that  the 
law  would  never  bo  enforced.  A  meeting  of  the 
mothers  in  the  valley  was  called  for  that  evening, 
and  at  the  meeting,  Cannon,  Snow,  and  others  spoke., 
the  burden  of  the  speeches  being  to  devise  means 
through  which  the  people  might  get  rid  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Millan. 

"  The  next  night  a  mob  gathered  around  Mr.  Mc- 
Millan's house  and  stoned  it,  and  the  next  night  a 
murderer,  who  was  seeking  an  entrance  into  the 
house  was  driven  away  with  a  pistol.  Later,  an 
ambuscade  was  laid  for  the  minister,  which  he 
escaped  by  taking  another  road.  Many  of  the  apos- 
tate Mormons  in  the  valley  advised  Mr.  McMillan  t<> 
leave,  and  some  friendly  Mormons  told  him  to 
always  go  armed  and  never  expose  himself.  The 
most  of  the  pupils  were  taken  from  the  school,  and 
it  was  months  before  the  full  number  was  restored. 
The  foregoing  is  a  simple  statement  of  facts, 
gathered  from  the  note-book  of  the  man  who  was 
assailed,  who  sat  by  and  heard  Young's  denuncia- 
tion, and  George  Q. ( tannon's  indorsement  of  all  that 
his  chief  said." 


DATE  DUE 

.^t.. fl_  ipgg 

L***^ 

CAYLORD 

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